THE ORIGIN 




OF THE 



GCYANIAN INDIANS 

ASCERTAINED; 

: . OB, 

THE ABORIGINES OF AMERICA, 

(ESPECIALLY OF THE GUY ANAS,) 



AND THE 



EAST INDIAN, COOLIE .IMMIGRANTS 

COMPARED: 



BEING ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN " THE COLONIST NEW 
ADDITIONAL SECTION ON THE HINDU CO 



By H. V. P. BRONKHURST 



(REVISED AND CORRECTED 



(Scorgetohm, gcmcrava : 

PRINTED AT ' \ T II E COLONIST'' O F F T < ! % 
WATER-STREET. 




THE ORIGIN 



OF THE 




GUYANIAN INDIANS 

ASCERTAINED ; 

OR, 

THE ABORIGINES OF AMERICA, 

(ESPECIALLY OF THE GUYANAS,) 

AND THE 

EAST INDIAN COOLIE IMMIGRANTS 

COMPARED : 



RETICLES PUBLISHED IN " THE COLONIST" NEWSPAPER, WITH AN 
ADDITIONAL SECTION ON THE HINDU COOLIES. 



BEING AP' 



By H. V. P. BRONKHURST, 



(REVISED AND C 0 B R E C T ^X^o £Posl ? 




TED AT "THE COLONIST" OFFICE, 
WATER-STREET. 

188L 




TO 



Jhb Honourable 

WILLIAM RUSSELL, 




Member of ihe Court of Policy, and President of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial 

Society of British Guyana, Sfc, $c, $c. 

Dear Sis— From the deep interest you hare always taken in all Colonial matters, 
whether Political, Religious, Agricultural, or Commercial, and especially in the temporal 
welfare of the Aboriginal and East Indian Coolie population, I have been induced to dedi- 
cate this Pamphlet to you. It is for the most part a reprint of the articles which recently 
appeared in the columns of the Colonist Newspaper, treating on a subject which had 
never been attempted before by any of the British Guyana Historians. Please accept 
this small, unpretentious Volume, as an affectionate and reverent acknow! 
that extraordinary and independent spirit and judgment you have always manifest* I 
in Colonial matters. 




With earnest desires for your long-continued life nd usefulness in this Colony, and 

Ranking you for readily complying with my request, 

I have the honour, Dear Sir, of subscribing myself, 

Your Most Obedient and very Humble Servant, 

THE AUTHOR. 

Werk-an-Rust, September, 1881. 




INTR ODUCT ION. 

W^wi ^*TS? ha m fr0m tim ? t0 time been P ut £orth h Y different writers, with re. 

X t t C , m ?™ OJP } a ^' from the time when they were carried captive 

and settled m Media in the 7th and 8th centuries, B.C., to the present day. The North 
tr/! la p !tk Af(v)ghans, Abyssinians, Samaritans, and Nestorians, the 
mlv nfll l ifT + V 1C ? rote « tants m of the North of Ireland, the Japanese and 

rifr T h t t C1 c a - V0 S te A S ' The theor y° f Anglo-Israelism advocated by 
su^Idfr^ M ' A ; ^ ect ° r 0f Shilli ^ford, Exeter), rests upon the 

supposed identity of the Khumn and Cymri races. But it is a well-known fact that 
rTA^SP - iV? V mT mi , X ? d aucestl 7> including the Gaels, Saxons, Phceni. 
to ffini! 1 P f nUg • h f ^p nau ^ a ^ as ' tne mixed body of Pariahs, rejected according 
n? ™? r W a u f PCri ° d 0f o al ^^t fabulous remoteness, and who in consequent 
eLSXl 10n ^ hvecu fl B f- 3 '°°0 and 4,000, according to Hindu authorities, though 
exaggerated, yet nevertheless authentic history, emigrated towards the West in 

Sv a 't eUter i^- th - T nM f i f 1 S \ ndh aud Ar ^ a ( I?an ^ iu the di ^ction of the 
grates and Tigns ^ towards Babylon and Chaldea, the chief of these expeditions 
being under Artaxa-Phasical. From these exiled Tchandalas sprung the Greeks, 
PlXH,pf S TT ( i: V ieilCC t lG ^ ritis \.P.eople are supposed to ^lave* origina d 
K^ %ti? 7 ^ ^ other nations of antiquity), Cymri, Romans? Danes, 

Normans, and other races though of course the Cymri and Saxons greatly pre- 
dominate. The theory of identifying the British people with the lost Ten Tribes of 
Israel is gaming much attention in England and elsewhere. A short time ago a trac 
tate or pamphlet, entitled « Twenty-seven Identifications," by Mr. Edward Hine, was 
circulated m this colony, and several persons, no doubt, hare read the contents. It is 

AMnZ' T' h T e J? r l. t0 pursue this sub J ect any further, for it is involved in 
difficulties and contradictions. Th, reader of this pamphlet will perceive that it 

Jmiw"^ rf 3GCt fu V f int Tl t0 persous of e ™ dite mhlds ™ colony 
f hoLl J C - ht f ai T^ tIe ^en who have perused the manuscript have expressed 

themselves uglily m favour of the theory propounded. One of them, writing, says 

I have read through your manuscript with much pleasure and must complimlnt you 
on your knowledge of the subject, acquired, I have no doubt, only after inmense re. 
hv rnJt 1 " * dd f ssed to and could only be relished and understood 

(IrZf i • i I q • . I were the author, I would send it to the Secretary of the 
geographical Society and await his report on the same." Another gentleman says • 

1 have read your manuscript through with great interest, ... To publish it out here 

£wi ? {t r\*T e t0 Seud H t0 the Philological Society or tl e 

Ethnological Society (I perceive it deals with both sciences) it would be appreciated. 

SwK T G t0 Tf 1 t0 Max M *to ^ Oxford, I believe from the gi-eat 

interest he : always takes ;m such subjects, that he would not neglect your communica- 
tion nor think it an intrusion, but would advise you how to lay your views before the 
Ztuf Tf° f llC ^Yu A , third ^ntlema/says: " I have read, I^ee^l not tell 
you with what interest and attention, the manuscript vou kindly sent me. It is written 
by . . one who has the interest of this his adopted country at heart. It has struck 
me betore-inore now by reading your book-that the Guianas were originally peopled 

lretAr,/ fl T ar ^T?Ki ab °1 H M ^°F 0i tllc this coYiryTnd 

those of India are irrefutable. I believe that if your manuscript was published it 
would have a large sale not only here, but in Europe aud other parts of the world." 

nrW? n £ Mi * w rC u° Pllt Subj ' ect P* ublicl y befdre my fellow-colonists, and 
?nW 1 away, bu who, nevertheless, take a deep interest in all that pertains to 
coW matters. The proprietor and editor of the Colonist having kindly offered me 
Wl !v f c ™ l \™™ oi his paper which are in a fair measure open for subjects of 
i^W^^n mtei;8 ^i. IwBB el ! ablcfl ' as opportunity offered, to place before the 
public oi British Guyana the several comparisons aud close connections existing between 

Georgetown, Dcwcrara, 1881, = V ' R ^NKHURST. 

B 



THE ORIGIN OF THE GUYANIAN INDIANS 
ASCERTAINED ; 



THE ABORIGINES OF AMERICA (ESPECIALLY OF THE GUYANAS) 
AND THE EAST INDIAN COOLIE IMMIGRANTS COMPARED. 



^Section i. 

DIFFERENT RACES OF MANKIND. 

1. A certain philosopher, on being asked " which was the best member of the body ?" 
replied, " The tongue ;" on being asked a second time "which was the worst ?" he replied, 
" The tongue ; if good, the only trumpet of God's glory ; if bad, a very firebrand of 
hell." So, if it were asked in our day " which creature of God were the best ?" the 
answer would be, " Man in honour before his fall;" " and what the worst creature ?" 
" Man in his fall, who hath not understanding, but is compared to beasts that perish." 
" God made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions." The noblest of 
God's creatures, though redeemed with the precious blood of the Son of God ; man, in 
his natural state, is only vile, no matter to what country or colour he belongs. 

2. Mir Amman in his " Bagh O Bahar," (i.e. " The Garden of Spring," or, " The 
Garden of Beauty;' written in the Urdu u Mu' Alia tongue), speaking of the omnipo- 
tence of God and the creation of man says: "The pure God! What an [excellent] 
Artificer he is ! He who, out of a handful of dust, hath created such a variety offices 
and figures of earth. Notwithstanding the two colours [of men], one white and one 
black, yet the same nose and ears, the same hands and feet, he has given to all. But 
such a variety of features has he formed, that the form and shape of one [individual] 
does not agree with the personal appearance of another. Among millions of created 
beings you may recognise whomsoever you wish. The sky is a bubble in the ocean of 
his [eternal] unity, and the earth is as a drop of water in it ; but this is wonderful, that 
the sea beats its thousands of billows against it, and yet cannot do it any injury. The 
tongue of man is impotent to sound the praise and eulogy of him who has such power 
and might : if it utter anything, what can it say ? It is best to be silent on a subject 
concerning which nothing can be said." [The italics arc mine.] 

3. A person who had always been accustomed to see only the pale faces in England 
would, on his coming to Demerara for the first time in his life, ho filled with wonder and 
amazement as he beholds the motley inhabitants of Georgetown before him, some half 
and ill-clad, and others almost in a state of nudity, gathered from nearly all parts of the 
world. He would never find two faces alike. * Difference in _ soil and climate has 
necessarily made the differences in men ; and hence we find white, black and copper, 
coloured, and all belonging to the one common brotherhood. According to Scripture, 
man was created as a unity, thence to arrive at multiplicity. There are some who do 
not like this idea. But St. Paul knocks down that when standing in the presence of 

B2 



2 



one of the most aristocratic audiences of the world he proclaims, in the name of God 
this democratic doctrine, " God hath made of one blood all nations of men." (a) 

Valid arguments have been brought forward, upon purely scientific grounds, in 
favour of the unity of species of the human race ; (b) the most important of which is, 
that the hybrids produced by the intermixture of animals of different species-as e.q., 
oi the ass and the horse-are always barren. Mules cannot be propagated from mules, 
and this would apply universally to human hybrids. Hence the different races of man- 
kind do not form different species, like the horse and the ass, but only different varie- 
ties, like the various breeds of horses, which may be crossed at pleasure. The differ- 
ences ot these varieties of the one human race are but of an external kind. They re- 
late only to the hair the colour of the skin, and the form of the skull; and these are 
mere externals which circumstances might alter, and which they can be proved to have 
(lone All these slight differences, however, are in reality much less than those 

tound between animals of the same species, as e.g., horses and clogs, &e, The internal 
structure ot the body has been found to be in every case perfectly identical. Different 
as whites and negroes may be from each other in other respects, they exhibit an entire 
agreement m this. Their mental organization is everywhere similar. Everywhere we 
nnd the same dispositions, the same mental qualities, the same passions ; all men under, 
fir i ' however, do not stand on the same intellectual level ; but while 

the differences between animals and men are, in physical respects, qualitative and 
!$S »< those e* lstm S between the races of mankind are simply quantitative.'" 

Man (says Waitz), " seems to resemble the domestic animals in his capability of set- 
tling m various climates, with this single difference, that he can bear such a transpor- 
tation and settlement 3 ust in proportion to the degree of civilization he has attained. 
As races of animals degenerate in strange climes, and more and more approximate to 
the native races even without intermingliug with them, so also does man. except in 
cases where essential differences of food, mode of life, and civilization, between settlers 
and natives prevent such a result." Many investigators maintain that the negro type 
has begun to approximate to the white races in America. All nations of men, however 
widely diffused on the face of the globe-be they Indian, Chinese, African. Spanish, 
German, French or English, so named from the places or countries they inhabit or are 
born in— all started from one Garden (Eden), and they all fell in one transgression : 
they are all redeemed by the same Almighty grace; and they are all to shine for ever 
m the same heavenly Kingdom. 

4. The Colony of British Guyana— correctly. or incorrectly called " The Magnificent 
^F^JmPS ^fQ^w 68 / 6 ^e Paradise of labouring man;" "The El Dorado," 
<° r T1 Th 4 ^ lld T ed ' 1 °\ 5f barter Ralei ^ ; " The Land of Glories and Enchantments ' 

Ihe Fairy Land of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments ;" " The Happy Home of the 
Immigrants and the Pride of its Sons ;" « The Punya Bhumi " (the Land of Virtue 
and of Plenty) of the Hindu coolies ; - The land flowing with sugar and rum" of 
Tro lope and not with nnlk and honey-is inhabited by people from all parts of the 
world Besides the native or aboriginal inhabitants, who were once the sole lords of 
SuSS ^ S a ?t re ! m y ar j ous l^rts of the Colony, Europeans, comprising the 
English, Scotch, Dutch, French, Irish, German, Portuguese, and other races of mem and 
ol women, too, who have come from Madeira in great numbers, and who thrive wonder- 
lully as shopkeepers labourers, merchants, &e. ; Immigrants or coolies from the Em- 
pires ot India and China, speaking their own languages, and the many dialects, and 
observing nearly all the customs and usages of the countries in which they were 
born ; a few Maltese from Malta or Melita in the Mediterranean sea ; a few Arabs • 
Negroes originally from various parts of Africa; Creoles from all the West India 
Islands ; together with a large and respectable class of persons, born in the country or 
colony and generally designated Creoles, or Country horns, or West Indians. The 
reader will nnd a lively description of the inhabitants of Georgetown from the pen of 
i M i i:~iTA Bod dam-Wetham (from his work entitled "Roraima") given in the 

British Guiana Directory " for 1881, on page 25. 

0. Having thus opened up my subject, I shall now proceed to ascertain the deriva- 
tion or origin of the natives or aborigines of the American continent, including the 
Cruyanas. I am aware, however, that in the course of this investigation I shall be met 
by many difficulties which seem insuperable. But when the pro et con has been fairly 
considered, and all pre-conceived notions laid aside, the reader will, I am sure, arrive 
at no other conclusion than that the peoples-the aborigines— of America were and 



3 



are ethnologically of an Eastern, or East Indian origin. Mr. G. W. Bennett, a well- 
known gentleman in tins colony and now retired from public service, in his second edi- 
tion of the " History of British Guiana" p. 74, says : — 

"To give the enquirers a notion whence the languages [spoken in this vast continent], and 
the people who speak them, originated, there is not a vestige of history, not a thread of tra- 
dition to afford a cluo ; and all our knowledge in this respect depends upon hypothetical rea- 
soning. The opinions which at present have been adopted with regard to this subject may 
be divided into three conjectures :— (1 .) Whether they be indigenous to, or coeval with, the 
continent they inhabit ? (2.) Whether they be of Asiatic origin, first peopling the South Sea 
Islands, and then emigrating to the continent of America? (c.) (3.) Whether they arrived 
across Behring's Straits and the Alcoutski Islands in the northern part of America, and 
from thence spread over the continent ?" 

_ 6. These questions are not easily answered. Some have asserted that it is extremely 
difficult to obtain any information as to the origin of the different tribes of Indians 
seen in the Guyanas ; and the general result of the investigations made by the different 
travellers or writers is, that, though it does not now afiinit of proof, it is very probable 
that all the Brasilo-Guarani tribes came from the north, though not at the same time. 
The various tribes as seen or met with differ a good deal from one another in their 
languages, characteristics, and habits, but not in their outward appearance or mode of 
living. Pedro de Cicca de Leon, who had an extensive knowledge of the Indian tribes, 
says, " The people, men and women, although they are of such a vast multitude of 
tribes or nations, in such diverse climates, appear nevertheless like the children of one 
family." The same remarks may be equally and forcibly applied to the peoples of 
Hindustan. Though they are divided into several tribes or 'castes, yet they have a 
family likeness existing among thein, which sufficiently marks them as one people. 

7. The _ continent of America contains many traces of its occupancy by man at a very 
early period of the world's history, and there are also remains of cities and public works 
connected with the people with whoni the Europeans first came in contact ; but who 
were these early builders whose remains now lie beneath the mounds of earth of varying 
magnitude found in different parts of the continent, with different kinds of imple- 
ments and ornaments ? Whence came they ? When and how did they perish ? 
Though these questions can never be satisfactorily and definitely answered, yet from 
the closest and the most striking resemblances, connections— identifications— in habits, 
manners, customs, peculiarities, lan-uages, &<\, existing between the thinned and 
impoverished remaining tribes of America and those of Asia— Hindustan in particular 
— which I shall point out as I proceed, we may conclude, from proximity of position, 
that America received its original inhabitants from the Eastern and South-eastern 
districts of Asia, (though from what particular district, and at what period, are com- 
pletely unknown), or that Asia was peopled from America, which is improbable and 
impossible. 



(a) There _ have been men calling themselves philosophers who were not satisfied 
with the plain and simple declaration or statement of the Bible, but have endeavoured to 
account for the appearance of different nations or races in other ways than by a special 
creation. These theories (especially that of Darwin, who conjectures that men sprung from 
oysters, and Linnaeus that their origin was from the monkey tribe) are too absurd to require 
any attention. This is being wise above what is written. It is placing human reason above 
revealed declarations,, which is foolish, sinful, and dangerous. 

(b) . Adam, (the late Hugh Miller wrote,) the father of mankind, was no squalid image of 
doubtful humanity, but a noble expression of man, and Eve lovely beyond the common lot of 
earth s loveliest children. 

" Two of far nobler shape, erect and tall : God-like erect, 
For contemplation he, and valour formed ; 
For softness she, and sweet attractive grace, 

The loveli >st pair, 
That ever since in love's embraces met ; 
Adam, the goodliest man of men since born 
His sons ; the fairest of her daughters, Eve." 

The declaration, " God hath made of one blood," &c, in connection with other facts of Divine 
truth, has led to the supposition that the sons of Noah after the flood were divinely directed 
to this and that country, as to allotted places of abode. To Shem was given Elam, Asshur 
Aram, and countries where the Tawny have been found. To Ham, Cush. or Ethiopia, Miz- 
raim, and the abodes of Dark-coloured people. To Japheth the lands of the fair from Armenia 
north and west, to the near and distant isles of the Gentiles, towards the setting sun. 



4 



JSection II, 

THE PEOPLING OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT FROM ASIA. 

1. The great Indian region which forms a part of the continent of Asia is mentioned 
for the first time by name in the book of Esther as forming a limit of the territories of 
Ahasnerus in the East, as Ethiopia was in the West, and this in the year B.C. 521. 
The portion of Hindustan referred to in the book of Esther was probably the country 
surrounding the Indus — the Punjab, and perhaps Scindh. Though the name of India 
is so seldom mentioned, yet the people and productions of that vast country or empire 
were known to the Jews generally, and to Solomon, about B.C. 1,015 (d). Hindu mer- 
chants in very ancient times sailed westwards, and the harbours of the Malabar or 
Coromandel coast and of Ceylon — the Scripture Ophir, the island Taprobanes or 
Serandib* according to the very learned Samuel Bocliart, whose weighty arguments 
are not to be despised, and according to a Brahmanical tradition still current in 
Southern India, which seems very probable, Ceylon instead of being an island was at 
one time a part of the mainland of India— were crowded with vessels from Western 
Asia, and no doubt an active trade and emigration was also at the same time extended 
to the east and north-east of Asia, and thus on to America which is- only separated 
from Asia by Behring's Strait on the north-east, a channel fifty miles wide. The 
Malayan Peninsula, which forms the southern extremity of Asia, south and south-east 
of India and Ceylon — also in very early times supplied the Australasian and Polyne- 
sian Islands with emigrants, and thus the Malayans in due course found themselves 
as settlers in the continent of America. It is a well-known fact that the Malayan race 
extends along the ocean towards America. Java, Japan, Borneo, Sumatra, and 
other great islands of the Indian Archipelago, form a kind of semicircle on to < 
the coast of America. Necessity, the mother of invention, no doubt taught 
these early navigators, or emigrants, the art of transportation from island to 
island and thus on to the vast continent of America. We read that in the reign of 
Ptolemy Euergetes II., in Egypt, B.C. 170, an Indian or Hindu was found dying with 
hunger in a boat on the shores of the Red Sea. He was brought to Court and carefully 
treated ; and, having learned a little Greek, he related how he had set sail from India, 
lost sight of land, and, not knowing whither the wind was driving him, arrived at last 
at the spot where he had been found, after all his companions had perished from star- 
vation. This one instance is as good as half a dozen or more, illustrative of the mode 

Some of the ancients thought that the four letters in the name Adam meant the Four Quar- 
ters of the earth. They said that the first letter A in the name stood for Anatole, thac is the 
East ; I) for Dusmos, the West ; A , the third letter, for A rtos, the North ; and M for Mesembria, 
the South ; for all these Four Quarters of the world were and are replenished not by the differ- 
ent species but by the different races of the one species (mankind). " For us" (says Rev. T. 
M. Bernard, M.A., in his Sermon preached before the Church Missionary Society, 1872), 
" there have been no different species of mankind, no wrong races to be counted hopeless, 
and regarded as alien to ourselves (' Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum putq' has for 
Christians a deeper meaning than its author could understand). It is all one family whose 
common history we know, and whose nature its common Redeemer has assumed. Under 
whatever aspect man appears, he is still man, of whom God is mindful, and whom God has 
visited." 

(c). At a meeting of the Christchurch Philosophical Institution, a few years ago in England, y 
President Haast gave an interesting account of the discovery of remarkable ancient rock 
paintings in the Weka Pass Ranges (in the South Seas), and exhibited careful drawings of 
them. Some of them are 15 feet long ; they represent animals of foreign countries, weapons, 
and dresses of semi-civilized people ; underneath are characters lise those of the Tamil lan- 
guage (of southern Hindustan), and those on the ancient hill found in the North Islands. The 
New Zealand Herald had been informed by a gentleman who had returned from Rotorua that 
a notice had been issued by the natives prohibiting any persons from taking photographs of 
the scenery unless they paid £5. 

* Literally the Island of Seran or Cheran belonging to the Chola-Desam, of which 
Tan j ore was the capital. 



iu which a human population may have been given to sites difficult of access to rude 
tribes by ordinary means. Love of enterprise, spirit of acquisition, social disturbances 
or internecine wars, and foreign violence, it may be conjectured, drove many from 
their homes in quest of other and more peaceable ones ; and endowed with intelli- 
gence they were able to devise means of surmounting natural barriers— mountains, 
deserts, rivers, lakes, and the ocean,— and the contiguity of the mainland of North- 
eastern Asia to that of the North-western America being such, it made it easy of 
access from one continent into the other. The ancient Hindus were an enterprising 
people, and they were always on the move migrating or voyaging to distant countries 
(e.g., the coolies from Hindustan who live amongst us), and establishing villages, dis- 
tricts, &c. The modern Hindus have traditional accounts of their forefathers crossing 
the " Seven Seas" in search of wealth, fame, home, &c, and thus establishing them- 
selves in different parts of the globe. Even in Demerara on some of the sugar estates 
I have not only heard traditional stories from the South Indian coolies about their an- 
cestors going away from their beloved home to distant regions' of the world beyond the 
" Seven Seas," but I have seen the whole transaction in scenic character performed by 
the coolies. 

2. Now, in accordance with this statement or notion, a certain writer, speaking of 
the American Indian tribes, says: — "Discoveries long ago made were sufficient to 
show that a passage from Europe to America was always practicable, even to the im- 
perfect navigation of ancient times. In going from Norway to Iceland, from Green- 
land to Labrador, the first traject is the widest ; and this having been practised from 
the earliest times of which we have any account of that part of the earth, it is not diffi- 
cult to suppose that the subsequent trajects may have been sometimes passed. Again, 
the late discoveries of Captain Cook, coasting from Kamschatka to California have 
proved that if the two Continents of Asia and America be separated at all, it is only by 
a narrow Strait. So that from this side, also, inhabitants may have passed into Ameri- 
ca ; and the resemblance between the Indians of America and the Eastern inhabitants 
of Asia (Hindustan) would induce us to conjecture that the former are the descendants 
of the latter, or the latter of the former ; excepting, indeed, the Esquimaux, who from 
the same circumstances of resemblance and from identity of language, must be derived 
from the Greenlanders, and these probably from some of the northern parts of the con- 
tinent." Another writer, well acquainted with the habits and peculiarities of the Ame- 
rican Indians, observes : — " There is good reason to think that America was first peo- 
pled from Asia, the Western American tribes being very like the Asiatics of the North- 
east, even, it is said, in language and traditions and weapons. In winter, even yet, 
natives can cross from one side of Behring's Straits to the other, over the ice ; and 
many authorities think that the natives of Alaska are recent immigrants from Asia. 
That it is not possible for America to have been colonised by Mongols is shown by the 
fact that canoes and junks are occasionally driven from the opposite coast of Asia and 
Japan on American shores." 

3. Bryan Edwards in his " History of the West Indies," and Dr. Robertson in his 
" History of America," both alike ascribe an Eastern origin to the original and modern 
Indian inhabitants of (North and South) America, of which Guyana forms a part. Dr. 
Pritehard, the distinguished scientific writer, after classifying the Caribi (e), Galibi, or 
Carribees (e) as aborigines of the countries bordering the Gulf of Mexico, and giving 
the following description of them by D'Orbigny : " Complexion yellowish, stature mid- 
dle, forehead not so much arched as in other cases, eyes obliquely placed, and raised at 
the outer angle," yet observes himself : — " These traits, which belong to the great no- 
madic races of South America, approximate to those of the nomads of High Asia. 
The complexion is nearly the same, for these nations do not generally belong to the red 
men of the New World. The face is round, the nose is short, but the nostrils are not 
so wide or patulous, nor do the check-bones project so much as in the Asiatic races. 
Von Spex and Martins thought the Caribs (e) strikingly similar to the Chinese and 
other Oriental tribes." 

4. Another writer describing the different tribes of Indians in America, says : " With 
a few exceptions the original inhabitants of America appear to belong to the same 
family. The same general features are discernible— the same swarthy and copper 
colour, straight and smooth hair, small beard, squat body, long eye, with the corner 
directed upwards towards the temples, prominent cheek-bones, thick lips, and an ex- 



0 



pression of gentleness about the moutli strongly contrasted with a gloomy and severe 
look. The exceptions in regard to colour are, that some tribes towards the north-west 
have the white complexion of Europeans, while others, particularly on the northern 
shore of the La Plata, and also in the peninsula of California, are nearly as black as 
negroes. In stature the variety is great." Some are a dwarfish race, and others are 
generally above the middle size, of a slender shape ; and the Patagonians (this writer 
says) who inhabit the southern extremity of the Continent exceed in strength and 
stature all other races in the known world, their average height being about six feet, 
and many individuals of them being upwards of seven feet. With the above descrip- 
tion of the original or aboriginal inhabitants of America, the following description of 
the Malay family accords. The chief characteristics of the Malays, who constitute the 
most numerous and remarkable branch of the Malayan family, " are a little and active 
body, medium stature, somewhat slanting eyes, prominent cheek-bones, a flat nose 
(which is attributable to an artificial cause), smooth, glossy hair, and a scanty beard. 
Their limbs are elegantly formed, and their hair is black and straight. Their skin 
varies from an olive-yellow to a reddish-brown." Their faces are almost beardless, and 
their breasts and limbs are destitute of hair, just like the aborigines or "• Bucks " we 
daily meet with in Georgetown. 

5. The Hindus, or the inhabitants of the extensive Indian Empire, as already stated, 
have also a family likeness existing among them, which sufficiently marks them as one 
people, though they are divided into several classes, tribes, or castes. " The peoples 
comprising the Hindu branch have been frequently classed in the white race by philo- 
logists. In fact, their shape, their language and their institutions partly correspond to 
those of Europeans and Persians, but their darker and sometimes black skins distin- 
guish them from either." The American Indians also often have dark brown or almost 
black skins, but this colour of the skin does not make them or the people of India 
Blacks or Negroes. It is a well known fact that there are many persons or members of the 
white or Caucasian race, who are very darkly tinted, and in northern latitudes, women 
of the white race have been known to have skins of a yellowish tint. And it is a well 
ascertained fact, also, " that prognothism or projection of the jaws peculiar to the negro 
race," has been discovered among the white or European race as well. All these 
remarkable facts only prove the unity of the human race by whatever name they might 
be called or known. The n tives of Hindustan as a whole "have eyes dull and soft, 
long, black, wiry hair, not at all inclined to curl. They have exquisitely formed nose, 
and mouth of the European cast. In general they have a face oval, with a forehead 
neither high nor commanding. Their national features bear a close resemblance to 
those of the Caucasian race, of which they are commonly considered a branch." 

6. I have given the above extracts to show that whatever may be the difference of 
opinions among the learned, and that whatever physiological and craniological differ- 
ences may exist or be apparent between the American Indians and the Asiatics, there 
is not the slightest doubt that the continent of America— north and south — was peopled 
from Asia in general, and Hindustan and the Indian Archipelago in particular. There 
have been of course various theories put forth by polygenists and monogenists account- 
ing for all the existing differences or diversities in the races of mankind known to us, 
but after all those theories are as imperfect as they are unsound (/). The only sound, 
rational, scriptural or biblical doctrine is, that the central tableland of Asia was 
the birth place of the human race (not America or Europe) and that from this 
central tableland man has progressively occupied every part of the globe by 
means of transport, effected in large canoes formed from the trunks of trees hollowed 
out, &c. Just as Europe and Africa were gradually peopled so the continent of Ame- 
rica was invaded by the early migrators. The physical, physiological, and other differ- 
ences or changes evidenced by the aborigines of the American continent, and wit- 
nessed by travellers and others, have been doubtless the results of climatic influence, 
artificial causes, diet, habits, or manner of living. &c. Though time has considerably, 
altered, changed, and modified the languages, customs, habits, and the very names of 
the different classes or tribes of the Indians who became indigenous to the continent 
thev inhabit, and their descendants have considerably degenerated from various causes 
or circumstances, yet there are strong evidences proving an original affinity, a striking 
and close connection existing, between the Asiatic Hindus and the American Indians. 
A writer who had visited many countries, speaking of the Bucks or Caribs, whom he 
saw in this Colony, says : " They resemble the Asiatics in more points than any people 



1 



I ever saw ; so mucli so that I really thought myself once more in Ceylon as I looked 
upon them in British Guiana." But unfortunately this writer, having made this broad 
assertion, never attempted to indicate any points of striking resemblances or close con- 
nections existing between the Asiatics and the aborigines proving that they are related 
to each other. This, I shall now attempt to do from my own personal observations. 
One great difficulty, however, has been to collect the facts and other reliable inform- 
ations, and to compare them. How far I have succeeded in this I leave my reader to 
judge for himself. 



[(d) "The Mosaic narrative supplies us with the interesting fact of commercial communi- 
cation having been established between the nations along the Mediterranean and those of the 
remote East. This appears from the account of the merchant caravan, encountered by the 
brethren of Joseph, proceeding to the markets of E?ypt with oriental products of .gold, 
spicery, and myrrh ; and from the familiar reference made to aromatics only found native m 
India and its Archipelago, as cinnamon and cassia. The traffic in these articles was m the 
hands of Arab traders. It seems to have been carried on both by land journeys from the 
Persian Gulf, and by the navigation of the Indian Ocean and Red Sea." See Milner's " Uni- 
versal Geography" (Religions Tract Society), p. 3. 

From Hindu writings also we learn that in a very early period of human history the Hin- 
dus of a very influential class traded to great distauces by sea and land, and had to exercise 
much discretion and brave many dangers, by which they acquired a strength of mind that 
cau ed them to be looked upon with respect. It is under the character of a wanderer that 
the ancient merchant is generally represented ; he has not only to superintend the sale of his 
wares, but to accompany them in their tiansit. Thus in Hebrew the name of the merchant 
is derived from a root that signifies "to go about, to wander ;" in Greek, from 4n jooros 
transitus : and the English word merchant has a similar signification in the German mergan, 
" to spread." In India, it is not alone the man who trades to foreign countries that has to 
wander, as much of the retail trade is carried on by persons who pass from village to village, 
like the baa men or hawkers of our land. There is a Hindu tradition also of Gotama Bouddha 
entering a ship with 700 other merchants, and passing the 500 islands connected with the 
Southern Continent, and sailing on for the space of four months without meeting any land, &c. 

{e.) " It has been conjectured that the chain of islands which stretches across the Pacific 
may have c nducted a Malay population to South America ; and, again, an African origin 
has b*en claimed for the Caribs of Central America." See, Dr. Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, 
vol. III., p. 1554. 

(/.) A new theory has recently been put forth by certain anthropologists which has attract- 
ed much attention though not generally accepted. There are only two races of mankind : The 
woolly haired and the smooth haired. " From the woolhj haired descended the Negroes, 
Negritos, Hottentots, and Tasmanians ; and from the smooth haired sprung the Australians, 
American Indians, Mongols, and Indo-Europeans. The white C aucasian race I eing more 
favoured by climate, &c, attained the highest development of all the. descendants of the 
primitive smooth haired branch, and sprung, Dr. Haeckel thinks, either from a branch of the 
Malayan or a ramification of the Mongolian race. From the smooth haired branch sprung 
also the Semitic and the Ary an. Th se theories, however, are mere curious speculations 
characterised by great ingenuity and suggestiveness." Zoologically and scripturally speaking, 
the races of man are of one blood and one brotherhood]. 



8 



Section hi. 



THE DIFFERENT INDIAN TRIBES IDENTIFIED WITH THE ASIATICS 

IN NAMES. 

.} hfve already stated that various theories are put forth by different writers to iden- 
tify the English nation with the lost Ten Tribes of Israel ; the English with the 
Tribe of Ephraim, and the Americans with the Tribe of Manasseh, two 
" halt-caste Hebrews," * sons of Joseph the Patriarch bv an Egyptian mother All 
the supposed "identities are so many proofs of British-Israel's special adaptation for 
the purposes for which God made her." But if these identities cannot be satisfac- 
torily established, then they become " mere (wonderful) coincidences, and not identi- 
fications or proofs. In like manner, in the attempt to discover, if possible, the real 
origin ot the American Indians and to establish ethnologically their affinity or con- 
sanguinity with the different Asiatic races. I shall pursue a similar course of ar<m. 
ment as that pursued by the advocates of the Anglo-Israelite theory. 

1. The aboriginal inhabitants of Guyana have for a considerable time been known by 
the appellation of " Bucks," which term is probably derived from the Dutch word 

. Bok \ ' Hostmann . in his ^ork on the " Civilisation of the Negro JRace in 

America, says that the origin of the word " Bok" is to be found in the word " Lokka " 
which m the Arrawaak language means " man." This Arrawaak term t; Lokka" has an 
eastern origin, and is derived from the Sanskrit " Loha," (vernacularly " Lok," and 
Tulgarly " Log;') signifying, in the ordinary use. man ; mankind. The resort of men, a 
village, a town, is called "' LoMlaya." But the word li Boh;' or (as it is incorrectly 
written) " Buck" applied to the aborigines, though I confess, it is neither euphonious 
nor elegant, is a term suitable to them, as signifviDg the right of possession or enjoy- 
ment of any property, especially the Continent of America, for they were the lords of 
the soil for a considerable time, till it was by force taken from them bv foreign na- 
°^ S ~-r e Sl rop .f ns ' The word " BoW itself is derived either from "the Sanskrit 
' Bhog; " Bhoga one in possession or enjoyment of any propertv,— " Bhogi, the per- 
son who enjoys or possesses anything : or from the Tamil roots " Pdgam," or " Bdgam " 
portion, share, inheritance,—" BaMi" the remainder, the remaining share or porti n — 

' Faga, " Pagu," a person or persons cutting off all connection from former associations 
and being or living independent and separate or distinct from the former, and hence, 
" side men —pakkattar,— neighbours, strangers, foreigners to a place. The Tamil 
word PokHan, means a traveller; one journeying; one who removes from one country 
and settles m another land with or without his family. From these instances I have 
given it is evident that the incorrectly written or spelled word " Buck," and correctly 
spelled ■ Bok' is a Hindu term. The male aborigines are called " Boks" and the 
females " Bokeens." 

2. Some writers think that Guyana, Guianna, or Guiana (called by some of the 
earliest trench visitors to this Colony in 1693 " Caribane," the origin possibly of the 
name " Courabana," which has puzzled some of our antiquaries, as applied to the East 
Coast ot Deinerary), was so named from a tribe of Indians caUed " Guyannols" or 

Guayannols. The Dutch adopting the word Gtjiaha into their vocabulary gave it 
the meaning of " Wild Coast f " wild place." The word I believe is traceable to two 
banskrit or Tamil roots, " Go," the earth, a region, a quarter, a coast, and " Vana." 

Van, or " Ban," a wood, a grove, a forest, a wilderness and uncultivated open 
country ; and as an adjective it means wild, waste, uncultivated : thus the two roots put 
together make " Govanap and by the alteration or change of V into Y. which the 
Indian languages allow, we have " Goyana," and corruptly and vulgarly " Goyanna," 



* An expression of Dr. Titcomb. Bishop of Rangoon. 



f 



9 

" Guayanna" i.e., an uncultivated open country, and from which the inhabitants 
or natives have been called or termed " GuyannoU" " And, indeed, as the 
name implies, before the people from different parts of the world began to settle here 
Guiana was a wild country, with extensive savannahs or plains (wet and dry), and a 
dense mass of unrivalled foliage, comprising palms, mangroves, courida bushes, ferns, 
and other plants and useful trees, where the prowling beasts and dreaded reptiles, the 
wild bird, and the noxious insect roamed at large." The two Tamil roots " Kay am, 
" Gayam" wild waste, and " Nilam" land, region, country, together " Gayanilam" 
waste land, wild country, and contracted into " Guy anna" have the same meaning, 
and agree with the description of the land just given. 

3. I stated that some writers had asserted that it was extremely difficult to obtain 
any positive information as to the origin of the different tribes of Indians met with by 
different travellers, and that it was probable that all the Brasilo-Guarani tribes came 
from the north (of America) though not at the same time. The whole subject seems 
to be involved in complete obscurity or mystery. I do not pretend to say that I can 
solve the mvstery, but I shall merely throw out the following suggestion and leave it 
with the learned to decide. The modem Indians of the Guyanas, it must be remem- 
bered, like the " Todas" or " Todawars" of Southern India, are wholly without history 
or tradition. A vague notion or imperfect story^, however, represents their ancestors to 
have been an importation. 

The Indians of the American Continent have been divided into two branches— The 
Southern Branch and the Northern Branch. To the Southern Branch belong three 
families, viz., the Andian, Pampean, and the Guarani tribes.* The Guarani family is 
spread over an immense space, from the Rio de La Plata as far as the Caribbean Sea, 
There are two divisions in this family, viz., the Guaranis and the Botucuclos, who 
are again subdivided in the Southern Guaranis or natives of Paraguay ; the Western 
Guaranis including the tribes known by the names of Guarayis, Chiriguanos, and 
Cirionos ; and the Eastern Guaranis of Brazil, including Twayi, Tapinoquis, Tabayaris 
Apontis, and several others. The Indians of the Guarani family are said to have " a 
yellowish complexion, a little tinged with red, a middle stature, a very heavy frame, a 
but slightly arched and prominent forehead, oblique eyes, turned up at the outer angle, 
a short, narrow nose, moderate-sized mouth, thin lips, cheek-bones without much pro- 
minence, a round, full face, effeminate features, and a pleasing countenance. " This 
description of the Guarani family or tribe in the main is applicable to several tribes of 
(nearly the same name in) the North and North-western Provinces of Hindustan. 

In ancient as well as modern India we meet with tribes or clans of a similar name. 
"■ Goura," a tribe of Aheers ; " Gour" one of the ten tribes of Brahmans from Gour m 
Bengal; " Gour Kdyath," one of the twelve subdivisions of Kayaths ; " Gour Rajpoots" 
one of the Chutoes Cula of Rajpoots ; " Gour Tuga" an important tiibc, of Brahmani- 
cal descent, in the North-west of India, extending over a great part of upper Rohilcund, 
the Upper Doab, and the Dilhi territory; " Gourdhar" an obscure tribe of Rajpoots in 
Saheswan, and in Gungarce, Puehlanah, Budurca, and Bilram, on the borders of Bu- 
daon and Alligurh ; " Gourna," an inferior clan of Rajpoots in Rehur. Agra, and Ma- 
thura, and other districts west of the Jamuna ; " Gordi " another class of Rajpoots in 
the Agra district ; and " Goraba " " Gorava" " Koravan" " Korani " (Karnat,) a 
people of the shepherd caste or tribe of basket-makers and fortune-tellers; a migratory 
race living on the hills and in forests, (and hence called Koyanar, Goyanar, which 
compare with " Guyana" " Guyanols " No. 2) having a dialect of their own, were all 
people who existed in India, and the last still living in Southern Hindustan. It is quite 
probable and possible that these " Givara " or " Gora" or " Gaharwar " (another class 
of Rajpoots, or " Gherwals" from Gherwal originally belonging to the ancient kingdom 



* This division exactlv corresponds with the division of the Malabarian Family in 
Southern Hindustan. The name Andira, or Andhra (Andian), the country ot the lelugus 
or Telingas, was known to the ancients, and Pliny speaks of the Rex Andrarum as a power- 
ful Indian Prince, in the North-East of Southern India ; the name Pandi, or Pandta (Pam- 
pean), the country of, and neople called, Tamils, in the Carnatic, the capital of which was 
Madura, and known by the name of Pandion to the Romans in the time of Augustus ; and the 
name Seran, or Keralan (the same as Malayalam ; thence the appellation of the country, 
Ceralades, or the modern Malabar), or Chola, (Guarani,) the country of , and people called, 
Malabars, the Paralia Soretanwm of Ptolemy, and extended along part of the Sea Coast, thence 
called the Malabar or Coromandel coast. 

C2 



) 



10 

, f Cassie settled in the upper Provinces of Hindustan, but over whose ori<rin and 
lineage much obscurity hangs, Hindu tribes in early ages emigrated to America, fas 
successive migrations had continued during several" centuries, long prior to the dis- 
covery of America by the Europeans. | and left their progeny or descendants, who 
m time became indigenous nations., with their languages, habits, manners. &c, con- 
siderably altered. u Gour and ani (to join, to belong to), together - Gouran ir signify 
according to a slang term current among some Hindus. " belonging t < Gour :" whence 
" Guarani" the tribe of Indians inhabiting the Continent of America, often met with 
bv different travellers., and-concerning whom there has been a £ood deal of mystery. 
Whether I have thrown any light upon the obscure Guarani tribes as to their "oricrui 
I leave my reader to judge for himself. 

.Before I proceed further with my M comparisons." I shall here give an extract from 
The London Quarterly Review, Xo. 95, for April, 1S77. on the " Hungarian Races,"' 
which may help to an understanding of the relative position of the various tribes or 
races ot British Guyana and of Hindustan. It requires no comment, and is very appro- 
priate to the tribal differences we see in British Guvana among the Indians and Hindu 
coolies. " It is a very singular fact (says the writer of the article) that the varied 
tnoes dwelling together for centuries in Hungary should remain to this dav utterly 
unassimilated. In France it is otherwise; there. Franks. Goths. Burgandians. anil 
JS^rthmem intruding on primitive Ivelts and Basques, have resulted in making a 
homogeneous nation of Frenchmen. Again, in onr own counrrv ".EnzknT the mixtwe 
o/ races has been most thorough : producing the English Peo?:le~: * an amalgam of 
varied types, it is true yet a people with an idioerasv distinctive of the mass collec- 
tively : we L the Englisn_ have lost all characteristics of race — all classification of Kelt 




...... privi- 
leges nave been swept away. The slumbering antagonism of Sclav. Magyar, and 
German .still serve to perplex the councils of the nation. . . . Referring to these 
tacts, an old German writer has quaintly described the general hodgepodge by 
saying:— " To the great national kitchen the Macrvar contributes bread, meal and 
wine ; the Rusmiack and "Waiiack salt, from the salt pits of Marmoras ; the Sclavonians 
bacon, xor Sclavonia furnishes the greatest number of fattened pigs ; the German gives 
potatoes and vegetables; the Italian rice ; the Sclovaek milk, cheese, and butter, besides 
table linen, kitchen utensils, and crockery- ware : the Jew supplies the Hungarian with 
money ; and the Gipsy furnishes the national entertainment with music ! " 

The American Indians* languages or dialects bein? different or various. :i in order 
to comprehend each other the tribes have adopted bv common accord a language of 
signs and gestures which approximate to that of the deaf and dumb. In this way all 
the Indians are capable of a mutual understanding, and a Tnte. for instance, can "con- 
verse without difficulty for several hours with an Arrapahoe. or the latter with a Sioux." 
{So with the different Guyanian Indian tribes. Sir Emerson Tennent speaking of the 
Aboriginal inhabitants of Ceylon, the Teddahs. £<?.. savs. " they mutuallv make them- 
selves understood by signs, grimaces, and guttural sounds, which have "little resem- 
blance to definite words or language in general." The same method is adopted bv the 
Madras and Bengal coolies in this Colony when they do not understand each other's 
language or the English, which however is becoming'very popular among them."i 

The native* oi Hindustan are all divided into various classes, tribes, or castes 
Inus we find the Bheels, the Ghonds. the Todas. the Kotas. &c. There are in India 
at the present time more than one hundred and fiftv different castes, and thev are as 
much separated, and have as little mutual communication, as people of a different na- 
tion. Tne word caste as applied to the different Hindu tribes does not signify species but 

tJo^ h 7 \ Hght ^ ^ring the expression of the R«v. Dr. Joseph Wild, of New York, with 
reference to Ameacan tManasgehrtes, it may be said of Eneland .—"It is God's great Prowden- 
Sf m ?r v. m W ^ 0h - tbese ^5™* People,"— the Kelts. Saxons. Xor a ans. French. 
Mindns, Muhammedans, Airieans. Chinese. Turks, and a host of foreigners and other races 
and nations,-- are digested and converted into Ephrahnites. like the stomach, from the 
J^fS 7 FT™ 1 1U i l ° 5 , ma ^. es 01)e "idividnafity.-' But awav from En-land, the mixture of 
?nfi5^fL Pe ? P l e Vi ° the - ra - C ^- d °f S - not ^ or dmg to their own theorv " ; make this one 
mdividuahtv. but different individualities." This is going bevond the reach of sober argu- 



races: it meaus trade, occupation, profession, calling, which, like political offices, usual- 
ly becomes hereditary in India, The son is compelled to remain in his father's trade, 
occupation, or profession, which is incorrectly called caste ; he must never attempt to 
aspire. Thus a young man belonging to the merchant, or mechanic, or banker, or 
carpenter's trade, occupation, or caste, must not aspire to become a member of the 
calling of physician, teacher, &c. This the sole cause of the Hindus having no in. 
centives to ambition. Thus we have in India a goldsmith's caste, a barber's caste, a 
carpenter's caste, a merchant's caste, a physician's caste, and so on. Even the abori- 
ginal Shanars of Tinnevelly assume the same appellation, as Shandra jdti, and make a 
caste for the cultivation of the palmyra (pannei), ur cocoanut [tennei) tree. 

As already observe^, these distinctions of jdti in India form the people into different 
tribes or clans. The use of the spoken and written languages is also employed in mak- 
ing these distinctions. Thus we find in India the Bengali caste or tribe, because the 
Bengali is the language spoken by them ; Punjabi caste, Maratthi caste, Tamil or Ma- 
labar caste, E glish caste, French caste, &c, all so named because of the languages 
spoken by them. Strictly speaking, the people of India, according to some of the Suk- 
tas, are divided into " five classes," which the Bralmians expound to mean the four 
Hindu orthodox castes, with the addition of the barbarians or aboriginal tribes, as a 
fifth. (There is no warrant in the text, however, for an interpretation of this kind, as 
it is contradictory to a passage in Manu, which expressly asserts that all men are in- 
cluded in the four castes). 

In like manner owing to a marked difference among the original inhabitants of this 
southern part of the American Continent, especially the Guyanas, as regards habits, 
languages, (a knowledge of which is too scanty on account of our intercourse with the 
people being limited "and difficult, and in too many cases entirely cut off,) and moral as 
well as physical qualities of the people, they have been divided or classified into various 
tribes, classes, or crstes. There have been as many tribes of Indians inhabiting the 
Continent of America, especially the Guyanas, as there are castes or tribes in Hindus- 
tan; and there are also nearly as many different languages or dialects spoken by them 
as there are in the whole of the Old World, and the use of these languages is employed 
as tribal or caste distinctions amongst themselves. This great multiplication of lan- 
guages or dialects arises doubtless from the want of writing, the dispersed and sepa- 
rated state of the population, and, also, from the long period during which tin y have 
been in the state of barbarism. Yet they are not at all equally distinct from one 
another. They consist of different families of languages, like those that have been 
enumerated as existing among the languages of the Old "World. From some persons 
thoroughly conversant with the different Indian tribes I gathered a traditional state- 
ment to the effect that originally there were only four principal tribes or classes of 
Indians who had descended from the Great Spirit in some mysterious manner incom- 
prehensible to the present race of Indians, and that to the original number Jour was 
added a fifth tribe; but that all the different varieties of Indiaus belong to the four 
families or groups. Dividing them into five classes or castes, corresponding witli 
, the Hindu castes, we have the following who are sufficiently known to merit any par- 
ticular notice :— (1) The Arrawaaks ; (2) the Accawai ; (3) the Warraus ; (4) the 
Caribs or Carrabisee ; and i5) the Macusis. 

5. The Arrawaak (Arawack, Arrawaok, or Arowack) Indians of the Guyanas 
(very few of whom now remain on the Upper Essequebo,— Iturubusec, Sutto, and 
Pomeroon being their places of abode—) of pleasing countenance, affectionate disposi- 
tion, more tractable and docile, friendly and less barbarous than any other tribe, and 
not very warlike qualities, were the earliest people known to the European settlers in 
Guyana.^ This was owning to their inhabiting the region of the sea coasts and mouths 
of the rivers and large creeks. They have sometimes been called " the tiger-men," in 
consequence of the skill and aptitude they display in overcoming their foe the jaguar 
of the forests and coasts. They generally tattoo their bodies in preference to dyeing 
them after the manner of the Caribs, whose peculiarities, however, they imitate in the 
structure of their huts under large shady trees. The language spoken by them, 
though beautiful, and somewhat difficult to pronounce the words on account of a mul- 
tiplicity of double consonants* to a person not thoroughly acquainted with the lan- 

* The languages of nearly all the Indians of the American Continent are strongly 
accentuated, and full of sounds which require an effort to he forced from the nose and throat : 
they contain double consonants extremely difficult to pronounce. 



12 



guage it would appear as though the words uttered by them were only half pro- 
nounced or sounded; and hence according to a Tamil expression they are Arei-vdkkar. 
Yery similar to the customs or habits of the Arrawaak Indians of Guyana are the Pu- 
linaes (" tiger-men '"') of Southern Hindustan. They inhabit the hills and forests 
and are to be found in large numbers at the mouths of the rivers and creeks. They 
are generally employed in cutting timber, constructing fences, and watching crops. 
They are not unfriendly toward their neighbours. They tattoo their bodies, especially 
the women, in preference to dyeing them. They are called Yedar, (corruptly Yaidar, 
Yedah, Bedar, or Wedar.) which in the Tamil language means, hunters, or fowlers. 
They are clever hunters and display great skill in overcoming their foe, the jaguar or 
Indian tiger, and hence frequently called Pulivedar. They generally build their huts 
on the banks of the rivers under large trees. I have seen several of these Pulinars on 
the sugar estates in British Guyana, and on account of their not being able to speak 
their language properly and pronounce the words distinctly they were frequently but 
deridingly called by their fellow-countrymen Koch-chei, or Arei-vahhdr (Arrawaak [?J ) 
The term " Arrawaak," as applied to one of the tribes of the Indians of Guyana, I 
think, is of Eastern origin. It is evidently an altered or corrupt form of " Harava," 
or " Haruva," a class of Carnatic Brahmans or agriculturists (Auruvaks or Auruvars) 
who were landowners, and who encouraged and practised agriculture to a large extent, 
and were migratory in their habits, occupying that portion of Southern India called 
" Arva," or " Arava," belonging to the ancient Pandyan Kingdom, where a corrupt form 
of the Malabar or Tamil language is spoken. The word " Harwaha " from " Eru," 
" Har," or " Hal," means a ploughman, an agriculturist, and is most commonly used in 
the east in this sense. " Erukavadu," " Yerauwakku " was the designation of a wild 
migratory tribe of Indians who occupied the " Arava " country of the Pandyan Kings 
in ancient times. Several families of them are still seen in Southern India on the Co- 
romandel Coasts. They subsist on game and all sorts of flesh; they make and sell 
baskets and mats. -Both men and women among them pretend to be fortune-tellers 
and conjurors. They are possibly the same who appear among the praedial slaves in 
Kurg under the name of " Yerrawauroo," or " Yarrawakku." There was also another 
division or tribe of shepherds or dhangar in the Northern Circars (Sarkars) called 
" Yerrah-wallaroo " or " Yerrah-wakkaroo." The language, if language it might be 
called, spoken by them is a mixture of Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and others, and, so 
far as I know, has not been reduced into a written or printed form. From this at- 
tempted derivation of the term " Arrawaak " as applied to the Aborigines of the 
Guyanas might we not suppose that the Arrawaak Indians are the off-shoots or des- 
cendants of a similar class of people in Southern India, who in a very early period 
emigrated and found their way somehow to the shores of the Southern American 
Continent ? The perpetuation of the name " Arrawaak " is to be seen in " Aravacur- 
chi," a large village town in " Karur circuit." Madras Presidency. 

6. The Accawais (Accawois, Wacawais, Accawayo, or Agawais), are the most nu- 
merous as well as the most indolent and the weakest of all the Indian tribes. They are 
to be found almost everywhere, although they principally inhabit the Massaruni about 
the " Poraima mountains." They are a restless and roving people. They never con- 
tinue in one place for any length of time. They travel considerable distances, and are 
very much disliked by the other tribes (iu spite of their hospitable and humorous 
disposition) on account of their warlike habits and quarrelsome temper. In the dense 
forests of Guyana when any of their number get separated from them or lost, they try 
to call each other, imitating the cry of a peacock ; and hence perhaps the origin of the 
word or name " Accawais" or " Agaivais" which very nearly corresponds with the 
Tamil " Agaval " or " Agaivdi," and means the call of the peacock to his fellow or mate 
or a person who imitates the cry of a peacock. The " Accawai Indians " are the Cos- 
sacks of the south, and like them prowl about in bands, not very particular as to their 
acts and manners. Corresponding to these Accawai Indians are the " Ktjemi " 
" Koormee," the caste of agriculturists, or, at least, members of it, who inhabit the 
Eastern and Central Hindustan. They also are a most restless people. As a rule, they, 
too, have been very much disliked by the other tribes, notwithstanding their hospitality 
and good 1mm our. They are not unfrequently prsedial slaves, having sold themselves 
to servitude. They are mostly found in the jungles of India, and have warlike propen- 
sities and quarrelsome tern; ers. Sometimes the " Koormees " enter the towns and 
villages of India to dispose of their small wares for themselves and others, and carry 
all the news they can gather in their rambles to their friends and tribes in the interior. 



In like manner, the " Aceawais " are the hucksters of the Indian tribes of the Guy anas, 
and are generally known as the " news-carriers." The name " Aceawais," no doubt, has 
its origin or derivation from the " Akharwar " (a division of the " Koormee " tribe), of 
Hindustan, who prowl about in bands, and are a lawless race. And the general charac- 
ter of our Hindu Coolies in British Guyana, and elsewhere, is that of a roving, restless 
people. They never remain in one place for auy lengtli of time, but are always on the 
move, like their kindred in India. The Missionaries labouring among them teel this a 
great drawback to the progress of the Christian work among them. 

I may further state that in India there is a large subdivision of the merchant caste, 
comprising some of the wealthiest men there, called " Agarwala," but incorrectly and 
vulgarly " Ugarwal," " Agawais," or " Accaways." They derived their name from 
" Agroha," on the borders of Hariana, which was the original seat of the tribe, and 
from which they emigrated to all parts of Hindustan and other countries after the 
capture of that place by Shahahoodcleen Goree. Being enterprising men of the merchant 
caste and fond of trading to distant countries and lands (see note (d.) in sect, ii.) they 
emigrated without doubt to countries far from their eastern home, and thus perhaps to 
the American Continent and left their name in the Aceawais of Gnayana (?) 

7. The Waerows (Warrays, or Warraws), inhabit the sea coast between the rivers 
Pomeroon and Orinoco. They are a hardy, robust set of men, and faithful when kindly 
treated. They are capital fishermen and sailors, and subsist chiefly by boat building. 
They care very little for clothing, and are very L-norant and barbarous. The money 
they earn by their craft they spend in debauchery. The Warraws may almost be said 
to live in the water, for the tract of land which they inhabit is intersected in all direc- 
tions by rivers and creeks, the principal of which are the Morocco, the Mora, the 
Guainia, or Waini, and the Barima, which frequently inundate the whole territory. In 
India the KaTHi {Guzeratti term), also incorrectly written " Katti," " Katty," 
" Cathie," or " Catty"— who gave the name to the Province of Kattiwar, according to one 
tradition, immigrated thither from the banks of the Indus some time in the Sth century, 
and according to another, from the banks of the Jamuna. They are divided into three 
principal families, named Wala, or Warea (Warm, Warrau, and Warrow,) Khach- 
char, and Khuman, of each of which tribe there are subdivisions. The Warras or 
Walas of the Kdthi tribe are a tall, robust race, sometimes having light hair and blue 
eyes, and, until of late years, were distinguished for their turbulence and fierceness. 
They wear little clothing, and spend most of their time in debauchery. Having sub- 
sided, however, into more orderly habits, they now follow agriculture, though they too 
are fond of a wandering or roving life. When kindly treated they become faithful 
friends, servants, and guides. They literally live in water or in swampy places. They 
prefer it to any other place. As stated in No. G might not the " Warraws" of the 
Guyanas in like manner be some oifshoots or descendants of the Warra, or Wala 
family of the Kathi tribe of Hindustan ? 

8. The Macusi, (Macousie, Macasi, Macosi or Maeoushi,) a numerous tribe of 
Indians who occupy the open savannahs of the Rupununi, Barima, and the mountain 
chains of Pacaraima and Canuka, are described as inoffensive, hospitable, industrious, 
and provident ; " as " residing in the deep recesses of the forests of the interior," and 
as implacable in revenge. " Probably," adds the same authority, " they are the aborigines 
of the country, »nd flying before more civilised tribes, as we find to be the case in 
every part of the Eastern Hemisphere." The Macusi Indians were fond of inebriating 
drinks, and took particular care in the preparation of them ; and thus from them it has 
been supposed the Piwarie and Casserie drinks were introduced among the rest of the 
Indians. The Guyanian name " Macusi " exactly corresponds with the Telugu " Mule- 
hdsa " or " Mohahdsa ; " with the Marathi " Mokasa-" and with the Tamil " Multasa" 
(corruptly Mocassa, Mokassa, Mocassau) and signifies villagers or landowners and cul- 
tivators at a quit-rent, on condition of service. The tyranny of the native kings and 
other village government officials was such, that many getting dissatisfied with the 
treatment received, and the little fruit of their labour, scattered far and wide, and 
formed a caste or tribe of their own. Being dissatisfied also with their own native 
land on account of the cruel treatment, like the Tchandalas to whom reference has 
already been made elsewhere, a goodly number of them probably left India in quest of 
other homes in foreign lands and thus perhaps found their way to the shores of the 
Southern American Continent, The Mochi (Hind.) or " Muchchee " (Tel.) is the 



14 



name of a caste in Southern India whose occupation is to make shoes, harness, saddles. 
&e. They are equal to the Tchandaks in social position. They make also strong 
drinks and use them rather freely. They are., however, industrious, provident, hospf- 
table and docile. The Macusi Indians of Guyana, I am inclined to think, are related 
to the ancient Arrakanese. The name itself, I think, is derived from the Persian 
"Magh" (corruptly written Mack. Muck. Mug. Mugg signifying a fire-worshipper- 
a wine-drinker, a tavern-keeper. This name Magh. or Magiiusi. or Makusi is 
given to the natives of Arrakan, particularly those bor ering on Bengal, or residing 
near the sea— the people of Chittagong. They are a quiet, hospitable, and industrious 
people. Time perhaps has made the vast difference now existing, not only iD the 
spelling of the name, but in the habits and peculiarities of the two nations. Among 
some of the ancient Macusi Indians of Guyana, I have been told fire was used as an 
object of worship ; but whether this is the case now I cannot sav. 

9. The Caeibs | Caribese, Caribisi, Charaibes,Kareebs. orGalibis . who call themselves 
Benaees very similar to Benares in Hindustan .; called also Kasie or Casie.andYaranasi. 
from Tarana, he sea), literallv meaning people coming from bevond the water or sea 
originally occupied the principal rivers of Guyana. They are easily known from the red 
paint called 1 Farvah " used on their forehead and legs. The women wear bandages 
which are woven round their ankles and below the knees when young, evidently to ex- 
pand the calf. They are now dwindling away. They no doul*)t were once the sole 
lords of the soil which we now occupy. They are welfinclined to strangers, and warm 
in their attachments and friendship. Over against these people may be set the Brahmans 
of the Malabar Coast of Southern India, denominated " Xr^iEUEis." who consider 
themselves the aboriginal proprietors of the soil of India, which thev pretend was called 
out of the sea especially for their enjoyment. The Xumburi Brahmans have a tradition 
that they came from a distant country across the " seven seas " to take possession of the 
Punya-Bhiimi (the Holy Land, the land of virtue and plenty <, India. 

In a note (see (e), n.) I hare already stated that bv some writers an African orioin 
has been claimed for the Caribs of Central America, but I do not believe this statement 
or opinion to be correct or sound. The term or name Co. ib is derived from the Win 
dus tarn Keutb ■ plural Ahribd), literally, near, near to; also, near in relationship a 
kinsman, a relative, a connexion by birth or marriage, excepting the relation of parent 
and child. It is more thai probable that the Carib Indmns so stvled themselves to show 
their intimate or friendly connection or relationship with the ot;:er existing tribes. Or. 
the term might have been derived from the Malabar or Tamil. " Karei." "*Kara" signi- 
fying book, shore, border : and the principal inhabitants of a village or neighbourhood 
near the bank, or shore, or border of the sea or river are called Karaibar. Kareikar, 
Karakar, and Karaibes, an 1 hence probably the name adopted by the Indians of Guyana! 
Caribs, or Charaibs, on account of their occupying or living "in the neighbourhood of 
the principal rivers and creeks 

10. The Aeeacevas. who inhabit the Massamni at the Eoraima mountains, though 
now wild and fierce and much dreaded by other tribes of Indians as " Kanaima=." are, I 
believe, closely related to the *■ Macussie Indians " mentioned in " Comparison, " 8. 
The present race of them in the Guyanas are evidently the descendants of the Arraca- 
nian Chilian tribes who were the most intelligent, improved, and warlike of all the abo- 

igines of America. They successfully resisted the Spanish, and forced them to ac- 
knowledge their independence. They *had nearly all the civilisation of the Mexicans 
and Peruvians, without the ferocity of the former and the apathy of the latter, or the 
slavish habits common to both. The " Arracanna3 " like the*" Macussies " are of Ori- 
ental origin and descendants of the ancient "' Arrakanese " of Hindustan. 

11. The Aheeeias 'Avaryas. Ayes, and Abayas, (Abavias. or Abavarias.: and 
others of kindred names, mentioned by some writers, were all Indians who lived in the 
interior of the north part of South America. There is scarcely anything known of 
them now. They have either ceased to exist as distinct tribes." or they have become 
one with the others by inter-marriages, and thus lost all distinct tribal differences. 
There are also other tribes of Indians whose names are mentioned by late travellers, 
but there is very little certainty to be placed either on the names or existence of these 
various classes. Whoever the tribes of Indians I have mentioned in this parasTaph 
might have been, we might safely conjecture from the derivation of the name? thai 



15 



they originally belonged to a pastoral class. The word " Abheer," "Ubheer" 
(Sanskrit), with the initial long " Abheera " signifies a shepherd, a cowherd. In the 
B&mdyana, and Mahdbcbrat the Abheeras in west of India are spoken of ; and in the 
Purdnic Geography the country on the west coast of India, from the Tapti to Deva- 
gurh is called Abheera. or the region of the cowherds, or shepherds. According to 
Maim the Abheeras are of a mixed origin, the offspring of Brahman fathers, and 
mothers of the Ambashtha, or medical, or physician caste, and according to the 
"Brahma Pur ana" they are the descendants of Kshatria fathers, and Vaisya 
mothers ; but the Abheeras (the Abiria of Ptolemy), from whom, I believe, the Aheerias, 
Ayes, and Abavas seen in the north part of South America are descended, were a 
pastoral tribe settled about the beginning of the Christian era on or near the Indus, 
lying north of the Sahyadri mountains ; who rapidly spread themselves into different 
parts of Asia, and without doubt also into other parts of the world, e.g. America. The 
Abheeras or Aheers were divided and subdivided into various brandies or tribes, and 
it is a remarkable fact also that the Guyanian Indian tribal names correspond with 
several of these Aheerian names. The Hindu name Apharia, Awarija, according to 
" Zbbbdutbbl-Qwwaneen" is derived from Awara, scattered, wandering, unfixed, and the 
probability is the Abheeras or Aheers who were fond of a wandering, roving, pastoral 
life, emigrated to America from the Sahyadri mountains and other parts of Hindustan, 
and thus" to the South of America, and gave origin to the names of the tribes of In- 
dians above mentioned. 

12. The Peruvian Indians occupy the north-west coast of South America. 
When the Spaniards first visited them, they were under a regular Government (the 
Sovereign being everything and the peox)le nothing), which bore much resemblance to 
the Chinese Government. Their Emperors were called " Incas." They were regarded 
as descended from the sun, and the race was held sacred. Hence even slight offences 
were punished with death as being insults to the Deity. The traditions respecting the 
arrival of the " Incas " among them, together with the resemblance of their Govern- 
ment and many of their laws and customs to those of the Chinese seem to indicate 
that some Chinese (who are ubiquitous), or Indo-Chinese (from countries of India be- 
yond the Brahmaputra), had been driven to their shores, and had introduced some 
imitation of the institutions of China or Indo-China. Several words in use among the 
Peruvian Indians have a Chinese twang. 

13. The Chilian Indians practised the Chinese mode of catching wild ducks on 
the rivers, by covering the fisher's head with a gourd, which seemed to be floating 
on the water, by which means lie obtained access to them with his hands beneath 
the surface. The Waraus of the Orinoco Delta also adopt the gourd system of duck 
catching. The Pallars of Southern India have a similar way of catching water fowl. 
The boys are especially trained to do it. 

14. The Zaparas, another tribe of Indians in the Continent of South America, have 
been by some travellers described as an " ugly race." Speaking of them Sir R. Schom- 
burgk (as stated by the Revd. W. H. Brett, in his work on " Indian Tribes of Gu iana, 
says, " They were so ill-favoured that his party called them the ' ugly faces.' Some had 
sore eyes, others squinted ; some appeared dropsical and their voices were squeaking 
and disagreeable." They are said to have descended from the Arracytnas and Macus- 
sics— a mixed tribe. Sir R. Schoraburgk evidently erred in his opinion about their 
derivation or origin. Mr. Brett, too, has quoted the above opinion in his excellent and 
very interesting volume above referred to. With all due deference to these learned 
men, I beg to offer my own opinion, which is quite the opposite. Saparua, an island east 
of Amboyna, the capital of the Moluccas, and one of the oldest settlements of the Euro, 
peans in the East, forms a part of the Indian Archipelago in the Indian and Pacific 
Oceans. The inhabitants are of the brown Polynesian type, and speak the same lan- 
guage as those on the coast of Cerain opposite. The people generally speaking are not 
handsome, but ugly, with broad faces, low foreheads, &c. Probably son™ of the natives 
of Saparua in due course found their way to South America as suggested in Section II., 
which see. I may further state that the altered or adulterated term or name Zaparas 
is from Saphari, (Guzerathi) signifying a sailor, a maritime or foreign trader. This 
Guzerathi term is applied to all foreign, but more particularly to Hindu traders from 
all countries beyond the gulf of Kutch. And might not these Hindu traders have 
easily found their way to the coasts of America in early ages and formed a Colony ? 



16 

The Sontals and Dowis— the relics of the ancient races called Sapharas or Saphares— 
are still to be seen in India. They are slender bnt extremely active, with a quick, rest- 
less and squinty eye, broad, flat features, large ears and cheekbones which impart some, 
what of a square or lozenge shape to the face. A beholder may be perfectly justified 
in calling them " Ugly Faces." The " sore eyes," referred to by Sir R. Schomburgk, 
may be attributed to the influences of the climate and change of diet. Some members 
of the Sontal and Bom tribes are so corpulent that they have been taken for persons 
suffering from dropsy or anasarca. 

15. The Tavias who lived near the sea coast and rivers of Guyana are identically 
the same as the Daviyas or Dayahs (a primitive race) who inhabit the interior of 
Borneo which lies due east of Sumatra and the Malayan peninsula. "Whilst the Davi- 
yas of Borneo are all cultivators of the ground, the Tavias of the Guyanas hare on the 
contrary adopted the manner of life observed by the other tribes of the South Ameri- 
cas Continent. 

16. Dr. Dalton, in his " History of British Guiana," mentions the names of Mayhas, 
Mayets, and Kirishanas as having been met with by late travellers. " But." he 
adds, " there is little certainty to be placed either on the names or existence of these 
various tribes." The Mayhas and Mayets " were inland races," and " the Kirishanas 
inhabited the mountains between the rivers Ocomo and Orinoco, and are represented as 
being very savage and cruel tribes, living in a state of perfect nudity." Now the ques- 
tion arises, who were these races or tribes that inhabited the Guyanas ? Whence did 
they come ? I venture to suggest that the Mayhas were originally from some part of 
Hindustan. The term or name corresponds with Mewas {Ghizeratlii), corruptly May- 
has, a tribe of Kolis or freebooters dwelling in the Province of Guzerat : also with 
Mayaru, Meyaru, or Meyas, {Karnatic) a class of slaves in Kanara, a subdivision of the 
Dhers. The term Mayets corresponds with Mewati {Hindi), corruptly written 
Mayots, Maywats, a tribe of Rajpoots inhabiting the Province of Mewat, now known as 
Macheri, and formerly notorious for their turbulent and predatory character. And the 
Kirishanas or Kirishans from Krishi {Sanskrit) and adopted in all the Hindu 
dialects, except the Tamil, but in the South of India pronounced Krushi, Krooshee, 
Crooshi, which signifies ploughing, tillage, agriculture ; hence agriculturists are denomi- 
nated Krishanas or Krishans, and corruptly Kirishanas. Some of the other races 
or tribes mentioned— as Mopayas, Ghajanas, Andagtjes, Cabarees, Sartjrars, 
Palicouris , # Cousaris, &c, may in like manner in the derivation of the terms, be 
easily traced to an Eastern origin. 

17. When Columbus in 1499 on his third voyage touched at Trinidad, called by the 
Indians Iere, he found on the Island Indians, " all of good stature, well made, and of 
very graceful bearing, with much and smooth hair." Their chiefs wore tunics of 
coloured cotton, and on their heads beautiful worked handkerchiefs, which looked in 
the distance as if they were made of silk. Nearly one hundred years after Columbus's 
landing, (1595) Sir Walter Raleigh visited the Island, and found five nations or tribes 
of Indians living there. The names given of these Indians are similar to those once 
found in Guyana. There were the £k Jaios," (probably the offshoots of " Jaes," a tribe 
of Soo-ruj-bunsee Rajpoots of Nohjheel, and Maat in Mattura, Northern Hindustan,) 
• £ ARWACAS,"f "Salyoyos," (probably Salivas,) " Nepoios," (who were probably the 
island boatmen or sailors from Ndu, Ndvdri, and corruptly Navayis, Ndpdyis 
[Nepoios]), and round San Josef " Carlnepagotes," (a name corresponding with 
the people called " Karunapakattar," in the Province of Travancore, Southern Hindus- 
tan.) There were also other tribes of Indians on the Island of Trinidad, but their 
names are not mentioned. At present there are very few real or pure Indians found in 
Trinidad, and these occupy the northern mountains of the Island, especially that part 
called the Arima. 

The merciless Spaniards— calling themselves Christian and civilized — who were the 
first owners of the Island, cruelly butchered large numbers of them, and now it is diffi- 



* See Section VI. 6. Palis, or Pales, probably same as Palicouris. 

t A similar class of people, Arawas, or Arwacas. are found among the Hau-haus and Maori 
tribes of New-Zealand. Sect. ii,. I. q, v. 



11 



cult to find traces of the different tribes. How different might have been the history 
of Trinidad, if at that period, while the gentle Arrawaks and Guaraons, and others, were 
powerful, a small Colony of English had joined them and intermarried with them. 
What a race might have grown up throughout the West Indies. " What a life, what a 
society, what an art, what a science it might have developed ere now, equalling, even 
surpassing, that of Ionia, Athens, and Sicily, till the famed ilses and coasts of Greece 
should have been almost forgotten in the new fame of the isles and coasts of the Carib- 
bean Sea !" But it was not to be so. [See Charles Kingsley's " At Last," p. 224.) Not 
only in Trinidad, but in other West Indian Islands also, the aborigines met the same 
cruel treatment from the hands of their oppressors or enemies. The Americans 
destroyed the Red men, and the Spaniards drove out the Mexicans* The English 
nation now are the sole possessors of Hindustan, which God has given to them for wise 
purposes. But do what they may or can, they cannot destroy the natives or inhabitants 
of India. And were it possible for them to succeed, Hindustan would at once become a 
desert in which the English race would miserably and hopelessly perish. In like 
manner God has given the Colony of British Guyana to the English nation for wise 
purposes, into which people from all parts of the world are introduced. Though the 
aboriginal natives are few in number and scattered far and wide in the interior, yet 
there are people in the Colony whom the English Government are in duty bound to 
protect. It would be better for those in authority, whether in the Political, or Eccle- 
siastical, or Religious world, to abate their natural feelings against the coloured race, 
and restrain the expression of their antipathies. It is, however, only the rude, ignorant 
and uneducated, or the young and thoughtless, or inexperienced,— the Kamine and not 
the bhale ddmi— who are in the habit of reproaching the natives of the Colony—the 
Aborigines and Creole races— and those imported from the distant East, with their 
colour and complexion. But those who observe and reflect, perceive in the people 
around them human souls who can lay claim to the same heritage of immortality, which 
the Eternal has offered to all. 



* Certain fragments of Indian tribes— Creeks, Cherokees, &c— had started on the high 
road of settled civilized life. But the Americans, in spite of their theories about liberty and 
equality, could not bear the sight of Indian reserves in the midst of populous States. The 
Government of Washington moved them off westward, and settled them in the basin of the 
Arkansas. That the natives everywhere in America should disappear before the white man 
was looked on as a law of nature by the colonists. That Red men are incapable of civilization 
is a false assertion too often made. They (the Red men) have proved incapable of civilization 
under conditions which would turn even a Norfolk farmer into a shiftless hand-to-mouth 
sloven. 



18 



JSection IV. 



THE HABITS, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, &c., COMPARED. 

The Indians of the American Continent, naturally varied as they are according to 
the locality and climate of the spot which they inhabit, are divided into various tribes 
knowu h J different names as I have described in the previous section. They only 
differ m language but not in habits and appearance. It is natural that families when 
they become large should separate themselves and so become founders of fresh tribes 
which spread themselves over the country, settling down in those spots which suit 
them best, One remarkable feature, however, to be noticed, is that whilst they retain 
the general character of their manners and customs, thus proving themselves to be 
members of one and the same great race, for total want of literature among them, their 
languages are constantly undergoing great changes, a fact which I shall by and by 
point out, The number of the Aboriginal Indians on the American Continent is esti- 
mated at from eight to nine millions, of whom about 1,400,000 are savages, wandering 
oyer the woods and plains of the Continent, and the rest settlers under Spanish or 
Portuguese Government, &c. And on the banks of the rivers and creeks, both within 
and beyond the boundaries of British Guyana, there are about 7,000 or 8,000 wandering 
tribes of Indians who are more or less known to all persons in the Colony. 

The reader will perceive that in my " 17 comparisons " in the previous section I have 
with some diffidence pointed out the identity of the Indians with the Asiatic nations, 
m the derivation of their names. I shall now in like manner attempt to point out the 
most striking resemblances or connections existing in habits, manners, customs, &c, 
between the aborigines and the Hindu coolies, thus proving that they are related to 
each other. J 



1. The Indians of Guyana live in hamlets, which consist of small huts or cottages 
situated on the slope, with the ground cleared down to the river. These huts are al- 
ways m the forest, near a river or a creek. Some of them are open on all sides, and 
others enclosed all round, and covered with a species of nalm leaf. They cut clown an 
acre or two of the trees, which surround the cottages, and there plant pepper, papaws, 
or sweet and bitter cassada, (or cassava from which the cassareep is made,) plantains, 
sweet potatoes, yams, pine apples, and silk grass. The rural population of Hindustan, in 
like manner, live m villages or hamlets, built on the banks of rivers or near the natural 
lakes or artificial reservoirs termed " tanks," made by enclosing the valley with a mound 
or "bund; which causes the waters to accumulate in its rear. They build their mud 
huts and cottages, some open on all sides and others enclosed all round, but all covered 
with the palmyra or cocoanut leaf ; they clear and cultivate the ground, and plant vege- 
tables com, paddy, papaws, cappada root (cassava), sweet potatoes, plantains, &c. The 
East Indian coolies on the different sugar estates, in addition to the cottages provided 
lor them by their employers, build their own cottages, in which they feel themselves 
tar more comfortable, than in the wooden houses belonging to the estates. 

2. The Indians of Guyana regard certain animals as unclean, or unlawful to be eaten, 
such as the larger fish, the domestic hog (pig), the cow, the vulture, the crow. In like 
manner the natives of India consider it unlawful and unclean to eat the flesh of the 
cow, hog, vulture, some kinds of fish, &c. Beef eaters are to this day despised as 
outcasts mlechas, by the Hindus ; they are an abomination to them. Egyptian, Jew- 
ish, Hindu, and Muhammedan lawgivers have very wisely prohibited the use of pork ; 
and however we may ridicule the idea of abstaining from the use of it in cold climates, 
there is no doubt it is excessively unwholesome in hot ones. I have learnt that there 
are some Indians in the Continent of America who rear large herds of buffaloes and 



19 



cat their iiesh, but never milk them, and so there is a race in Southern India on Neil- 
ghery hills called Kotas, who eat the flesh of their herds, but never mills them, probably 
from religious scruples. 

3. The Indians of Guyana eat parched corn, like the Egyptians, and like very many 
of the poorer classes of Hindustan. 

4. The Indians as a whole use but little solid food ; they subsist chiefly on drinks, 
paps, or fruit, whence arises their weakness and inability to do hard work. The 
Hindus in like manner use little or no animal food. They live principally on rice, and 
curry made of vegetables, greens, pulse, &c, fish, and fruit ; and hence their complete 
weakness and inability to engage in, and do hard work. Our immigrants are instances 
of this fact. 

The Vishnu Pur ana says, " He who eats without performing ablutions is fed in hell 
with filth ; and he who repeats not his prayers, with matter and blood." Accordingly 
the coolie washes his hands and his feet before he goes to his meals, and before he 
eats he places a small quantity of the prepared food before the idol or god of the house 
to propitiate his favour. He then mixes his rice and curry with his right hand, and 
rolling a small quantity into a ball, tosses it dexterously into his mouth, care being 
taken that none fall into the dish. I have heard that a similar custom is in use among 
the aborigines. They wash their hands, face, and feet before going to their meals, and 
before they eat the cassava, &c, food, they put by a small portion for Tamousie. 

5. The Indians as a rule are not given to alcoholic drink to that extent which is 
generally believed. The only tribe that will barter or purchase rum is the Warrow ; 
and among the Arrawaaks the females use it more than the males. The other tribes 
prefer their own drinks— paiwarie and casserie. The paiwarie when strained and 
sweetened is not unpleasant, and the casserie is a cool and refreshing drink. The 
Hindus in like manner arc not given to the use of drinks which inebriate. Their 
religion proscribes all such drinks. The use of such is confined to the lowest class 
among them. In British Guyana, however, where there are so many hundreds of grog- 
shops kept by the Portuguese, the Indian coolies are easily tempted and made to do 
what they would not dare do in their own land or country. On the different estates 
also where so much rum is made, the immigrants learn to cultivate a taste for it, and 
too often get drunk and become noisy till they find themselves in the hands of the 
police. The aboriginal Indians make drinks from pumpkins, corn, (when young,) 
yams, potatoes of a blue kind, and seeds or fruit of different trees, especially that of 
the Eta palm ; the trunk of the Eta tree also produces a drink ; it is dug out in the 
centre, (the inside being soft and watery,) the whole is covered over and the juice runs 
from the two ends filling this hole ; after a few days the liquor which is quite clear is 
fit for use and is like cocoanut rum or toddy. All the drinks are intoxicating, and as 
they are taken in great quantities, the person labouring under their influence becomes 
almost mad for the time being ; and it is only on these occasions that the Indians will 
quarrel, remembering an old offence ; otherwise they arc quiet. This is exactly the 
character and practice of our East Indian coolie immigrants in the colony and else- 
where. The Toddy, corresponding to the juice of the Eta palm tree, so mucli liked by 
the Indian coolies, is obtained from the long flower bud of the cocoanut tree (which 
is enclosed in a sheath) by tying it in three places soon after it appears to prevent its 
expanding, and the point is cut off ; it is then beaten with a hard wooden mallet to 
crush the flowers inside the sheath or spaatha, and promote a flow of sap, bent down- 
wards and fixed in that position. After a few days a round earthen vessel or calabash 
is suspended underneath to catch the liquid as it exudes from the bud, a thin slice being 
cut off the point every day. A good tree will yield from four to five pints daily : after 
a few months the drawing is stopped, as it exhausts the tree very much. The best 
time to drink Toddy is early in the morning, being then less intoxicating and more 
agreeable than when stale, as it ferments rapidly, three hours being sufficient to set it 
going, and after a day or two it is quite unwholesome. The taste of Toddy is peculiar 
and difficult to define ; it has been compared to champagne, cider, or milk, and strongly 
recommended by Dr. Rumphius for consumptive patients. I knew several consumptive 
persons in India whose lives had been prolonged for many years and who apparently 
had ■ recovered from the troublesome cough, &c, by the use of it. The English term 
Toddy is derived from Tari, the Tamil and Hindu name for the juice of the palmyra 



2U 



or coeoauut palm. The word Shechar, so often mentioned in the Talmud, generally 
translated as strong drink, and once in Numbers 28, 7, as strong wine, means in reality, 
the sweet liquid drawn from some of the palms, and was very probably drugged by the 
Jews. The Toddy is drawn by a caste of the Hindus in India called Shanars, but in 
British Guyana it is drawn by any of the coolies without respect to caste. When under 
the influence of Toddy like the aborigines, the coolies become troublesome and quarrel- 
some, and in that state try to put an end, if possible, to old offences and insults 
offered. 

6. The people of India get easily provoked. Sometimes ten or twelve of them may 
be found sitting down together and conversing on general subjects. Peace and con. 
cord may be thought to exist; but not so. One wrong word or expression, one wrong 
movement of the eye or mouth produces instant discord and quarrel. The aborigines 
are facsimiles of the Hindus in this respect. Whilst peaceable and quiet otherwise, 
they soon get provoked. One wrong gesture or movement of the eye, one wrong word 
or expression on the part of the speaker, would cause instant discord and row. I may, 
further, remark that the aboriginal Indians like their brethren in the flesh—The Hin- 
dus, whether in India or British Guyana— are loud talkers or vehement speakers. 
Talking together at the top of their voices, and a great way above anything of the 
kind we have heard, is quite natural to both nations. Apparently, they are quarrelling, . 
but such is not the case ; they are only giving their opinions, or deciding a matter. 
" Indeed, it is an incessant tempest of grating gutturals, which sets one's teeth on 
edge ; and, in addition, head and shoulders, hands and feet, the whole body, in fact, is 
wrought up into violent action to enforce the orator's meaning." 

7. The roofs of the huts of some of the tribes of Indians of Guyana are pointed, and 
the walls and roofs inside painted with fanciful figures. In like manner, in some of 
the country districts of Hindustan the roofs of the huts and cottages are painted ; and 
the walls and roofs grotesquely painted inside, probably having some reference to reli- 
gious matters. 

8. The Indian, whether male or female, as often seen in the City ol Georgetown, goes 
about almost naked ; a string is passed around the waist (corresponding to the Hindu 
Areynydn or Annei Kayaru, a girdle or cord, tied round the waist of men from their 
birth : it is commonly of cotton, sometimes of gold or silver), to sustain a fold of some 
vegetable texture which is slung across the loins. This dress (if it can be called a dress 
at all) is called by the coolies bdbd or langutti. Many'of the women wear a fancifully 
worked diminutive apron (corresponding to the Areimudi, a small plate of gold or silver, 
appended to the girdle of female children, for the sake of decency,) called a " Quev" 
made either of beads or shells ; in fact a substitute for a fig leaf. The Hindoos in like 
manner in India and British Guyana go about almost naked. They wear little or no 
clothing. The labourers or coolies — males and females — especially in India may be 
seen in the rural districts in a state of nudity. They wear what is called " Quevma- 
num" (Komanum, Comanum, derived from the Tamil roots Kuvav, corresponding- to 
the Indian term Quvav, or Quev, literally a hider, a concealer, a cover, something to 
screen with, and mdnarn, nakedness,) to hide their nakedness. We must not, however, 
suppose that all the Indians in the American Continent wander about in a state of 
semi-nudity. The Arraucanian, Patagonian, and other male and female Indians wear a 
dress composed of two garments, though they are differently put on. 

[Note. The Tamil word Koisagan, Koiyu, is identical with the aboriginal Indian term, and 
means a fold or plait ; a fold or wrapper worn by men or women, and is same as Komanam. 
The Tchandalas, or mixed body of Pariahs in India are strictly forbidden by custom, usage, and 
Hindu Law, the use of wearing upper and lower garments, turbans, &c. The Comanum is 
almost the only garment they wear. Men and women among them leave their breasts, and 
other parts of the body below the hip, uncovered ; principally in the rural districts of India ; 
very like our Aborigines in their personal appearance, and attire.] 

9. When an Indian comes into your house, he looks not for chairs to sit upon : he sits 
flat on the ground or floor-— pedibus intortis. In his own home he usually sits on his 
haunch, or rests on his hammock. This is what every Hindu does when he is asked to 
take a seat. He looks not for chairs or benches, &c, to sit on. 

I 



21 



10. Both the Aborigines and the inhabitants of Hindustan consider oil a very neees. 
sary article, and is much used by them in anointing their bodies. They consider it 
as a great improvement to their beauty. 

11. The roofs of the dwelling or huts of the Indians are neatly thatched with palm 
leaves. The inner structure is simple enough, but suits all the purposes for which it is 
intended. The absence of nails and bolts is replaced by lianos, or withes. The huts or 
houses for the most part have only a ground floor. Several families generally inhabit 
one of these huts ; there is however no dividing partition ; the beams from which the 
hammock is suspended, the few stones which constitute the hearth, are tacitly acknow- 
ledged to form a claim to that particular spot, which is never occupied by a third, 
although, readily and cheerfully relinquished to a guest or stranger. A few earthenware 
vessels of different shapes, a few low stools carved out of a solid piece of wood, the 
weapons for the chase and war, form the furniture of the house or hut. The house of 
the Hindu in like manner is neatly thatched with palm, cocoanut or palmyra-leaf. The 
inner structure is simple enough. Entering the low door, which occupies a central 
position, we see on either side a small verandah or alcove, formed of baked clay, where 
the inmate receives visitors, entertains strangers, or waits the preparation of the simple 
meal. The articles of furniture are a few stools, several earthenware vessels, a low 
wooden bedstead, a loose mat, and a box for clothing, books, and ornaments. Several 
persons sometimes occupy the same room. The rafters of bamboos or palmyra trees 
split to the necessary size, the low door, &c, are all made fast by withes or pdlei Kayaru, 
cord made of the spatha, enclosing the flower of the palm or cocoanut trees. Knives 
and forks are unknown to both nations. The meats being already cut up, knives and 
forks become unnecessary when eating. 



12. Various castes of Hindus who have not had educational advantages, and therefore 
cannot read and write, are in the habit of using certain marks, knots, &c, on pieces of 
wood, cloth, string, &c, called Kurippu, but vulgarly Kuyippu. These Kuyippus are 
made in such a peculiar manner as to have reference to different subjects. Threads 
of different colours with knots in the middle, the end, &c, are also indicative of 
different circumstances or events, persons, places, and are intended also for keeping 
accounts of moneys received, and moneys paid and owing. &c. The Indians of Guyana, 
in like manner who cannot read have adopted a similar method of using certain peculi- 
arly made marks or knots called in their language " Quipu," which is, in my opinion, a 
corruption or prahrit of the Tamil word Kurippu, or Kuyppu, as the illiterates of 
Southern India are pleased to pronounce it. [Compare also the Aboriginal Indiau 
" Quippu," with the Tamil " Kizhippu," or Kizhivu, a line, a scratch, a mark, an incision 
made into any thing; a picture; — and with " Mudippu," a tie, a knot, a mark.] As 
among the Aborigines so among the poor and uneducated classes of people in India, 
colours of things have a variety of meanings ascribed to them; as for instance, white indi- 
cates silver ; yellow gold, &c. Several of these "quipus" are to be seen in the rock- writ- 
ings of Guyana, and the use of them there is thus explained by Mr. im Thurn (quoted 
by Mr. A. Winter in his " Indian Pictured Bocks of Guiana") : "Suppose one of the 
simplest examples of commemorative writings; a human figure side by side with one of 
these knotted strings might indicate that a certain number — equal to the number of 
the knots — of men, did a certain thing, which thing might be indicated by some other 
sign in the same group." Some ninteen years ago I knew a East Indian coolie of the 
Pariah caste, Yehivalan by name, on plantation Buimveldt, East Bank of the Demerary, 
near to Georgetown, who had in his possession several strings of different lengths with 
knots, some large, and some small, which professed to contaiu an account of his relations 
in Southern India, some alive, and some dead ; his voyage across the broad ocean to 
Demerara; his arrival in the Colony; his experience in India and in the Colony as a hired 
or indentured coolie or labourer ; his wife, disappointment, &c, &c. It was indeed very 
amusing to me to sit and listen to his tales as he professed to read them out. These 
knotted strings were his " mana kurippu" — Book of remembrance and reference, and 
also his " Ready Reckoner" in money matters or other transactions with his fellow 
countrymen. It is a common thing in India for persons who cannot read and write to 
adopt such things as " Quipus" and picture writings, &c, to remind them of different 
things. The tally so common among the Portuguese shopkeepers, is used on the 
same principle. 



22 



13. Among the Areawaak Indians " all the families descend in the female line, 
so that when a woman marries she continnes to bear the name she received from her 
mother, which she transmits to her daughters, who as well as her sons are prohibited 
from intermarrying' with individuals of the same name." Yery similiar to this is a 
strange custom prevalent among the Naihs of India. The family succession goes in 
the female instead of the male line ; the son of the sister succeeding as heir in disregard 
of the offspring of the deceased. This peculiar custom results from the absence of the 
marriage tie among the Hairs ; the men and women living in promiscuous union, which 
makes it impossible to determine paternity. Usages so contrary to ordinary Hindu 
custom must be retained from some earlier state of society. The term " Pulayar," 
(Malabar) is applied to a low and servile caste on the coast of Malabar. In this caste 
the husband resides with his wife though she may belong to a different master, (Nay agar, 
husband, lord,) and their children inherit not the father's but the mother's name, rights, 
privileges, <fcc. The succession is on the side of the mother only, and the female is 
forbidden marriage with the individuals of the same name. Might not the custom of 
the family succession going in the female instead of the male line among the Arrawaaks 
of Guyana be borrowed from the Pulayars of Hindustan ? 

14. The character suggested by the countenance of the Indians of Guyana is that 
of langour and apathy — a vacant placidity, unmarked by strong emotions. He is 
unmoved by the most startling and novel sights. The Indians' revenge once roused 
is unsparing and unchangeable. They have been accused of cowardice, but it is 
notorious that when quarrels or wars arise, the passions of the natives are roused 
to the highest pitch, and human life is held of little account. In such extremities 
tbey become utterly reckless of danger, or evil consequences, and indifferent to death. 
No mercy is either sought or expected. The vanquished is sure to die. And what 
is the general character of the Hindu coolie population of the Colony of British 
Guyana in this respect ? " They have" (says the Rev. ¥m. Arthur, M.A., in his 
" Mission to the 31ysore") : — 

"A natural apathy which is increased by the joint influence of the caste system, the 
doctrine of transmigration, and barbarous and painful penances. Caste severs the bond 
of brotherhood, transmigration shuts the heart against all their fellow sufferers, and the 
barbarous penances deaden their compassion, harden their hearts, and make them little 
better than the beasts which perish. These three combined together make them remarkably 
cold of heart. They will not go out of their way to torture or murder human beings like 
unto themselves ; but if revenge or the hope of gain stimulate them, they will do so to the 
utm st pitch, and as unmoved as if they were cutting sticks. Their revenge once roused 
is unsparing and unchangeable. Coolly and yet furiously they will pursue their unfortunate 
victims to "commit the dreadful crime in secrecy. They will spend their last cent at law 
rather than fail to ruin their victims." 

"When their passions are roused to the highest pitch nothing would move them. 
They will neither show mercy nor look for any. We see enough of this displayed by 
the East Indian coolies in British Guyana. 

15. When the Indians of Guyana walk out in small or large groups, composed of 
men, women, and children, they never walk together. The men go before, and the 
women follow after, and that at some distance from their lords. The women never 
call their husbands by their real or proper names, nor are they allowed to mention the 
names of their husbands to any one, even when asked. This is still the custom among 
the Hindus in India and in the Colony of British Guyana. The Hindu females are not 
allowed by their religion and mdmool (custom) to walk in company side by side with 
their ndyagars — husbands— or male relatives. They must always keep behind, and at 
a respectful distance. They do not call their husbands, who are their lords or masters, 
by their proper names, nor tell their names when asked. The different Police Magis- 
trates, I have no doubt, have often found this to be the case, when they have had before 
them wives of Hindu coolies, actually refusing to mention or give the names of their 
husbands. In India the females are not allowed to sit down to eat with their husbands 
or male relatives ; they wait on the men during meals. When the males have satisfied 
their hunger, then the females sit patiently and regale themselves upon what is left. 
The author of the Padma Parana asks, " What woman would think of eating till her 
l or d — nay agar — had had his fill ?" This mdmool is also scrupulously observed by the 
females of the several Indian tribes of Guyana. 



23 



16. Among the Indians of Guyana, parents frequently contract marriage for their 
children during their infancy or childhood, and this engagement is considered binding 
on the part of young people ; the females, especially, are allowed little or no choice or 
say in the matter. In like manner the Hindu maidens are invariably betrothed and 
wedded before the age of discretion to husbands twice, or thrice, or four times older 
than themselves. The parents who neglect this duty of procuring a suitable husband 
for their daughters are under the penalty denounced in the following text.—" The giver 
of a Gatjri, (a girl of eight years of age,) obtains the heaven of the Celestial Deities ; 
the giver of a Rohini, (of nine years,) the heaven of Vishtnu ; the giver of a Kanya, 
(of ten years,) the heaven of Brahma; and the giver of a Rajaswali, (above ten 

years,) sinks to hell." The girl and her mother have no voice or say in the 

matter of selection or choice of a husband. 

17. Among the Indians the form of marriage ceremony is very simple and quite pri- 
mitive in style. In this they follow the Hindu form of Kanydpdtri, (Sanskrit,) in 
which a girl is married by the Gdndharba form, or simple mutual consent in the pre. 
sence of the parents and relations. It sometimes happens that the young Indian, like 
Jacob of old, has to obtain or win his bride by a short period of servitude. Among the 
Singhalese of Ceylon the marriage ceremony consists in tying the thumbs or little 
fingers of the man and woman together with a thread, after which the man pours some 
chandana or other scented oil on the bride's head. A similar practice has been in use 
among some of the Aborigines of Guyana. 

18. Among the Arraucanian Indians the bridegroom has often to hunt for his intended 
bride, and when he discovers the girl, he seizes her and drags her to the door, while on 
her part she screams and shrieks for protection. At the sound of her voice all the 
women turn out, armed with sticks, stones, and any other weapons which come to hand, 
and rush to her help. And the bridegroom at once dashes at the girl, seizes her as he 
can, by the hand, the hair, or the heels, as the case may be, drags her to his horse, leaps 
on its back, pulls her up after him, and dashes off at full speed, followed by his friends 
into the forest or wood, where the happy pair are left alone. On the second day after 
the abduction, they both emerge from the wood as man and wife. This strange marriage 
ceremony is evidently referred to in the Hindu Bdhshasa rite, in which the bride is 
seized violently as if in war, and taken away to the house of the bridegroom, followed 
of course by friends, &c. 

19. The Indian woman belonging to the Carib tribe is always in bondage to her male 
relatives : " To her father, brother, or husband, she is ever a slave, and seldom has any 
power in the disposal of herself. Her family claim authority over her even after they 
have given her in marriage." The like is the case with the Hindu female : bondage 
and obedience. It is a popular sentiment throughout India that a "woman can never be 
independent." In childhood she is to be subject to her father, in adult years to her 
husband, and in old age to her son. She has no choice in any matter throughout life : — 
" A woman is not allowed to go out of the house without consent of her husband, nor to 
laugh without a veil over her face, nor to stand at the door, nor look out at the window. 
. . . . She was made for servitude to her husband. She has no fitness for his equal 
companionship." The Indian women of Guyana, like their sisters of Hindustan, occupy 
the position of domestic slaves attending to the drudgeries of house and field, while the 
men— lords of creation— rove about hunting, fishing, or shooting with bow and arrows. 

20. Polygamy is observed by the Indians of Guyana. " If an Indian obtains posses- 
sion of several wives, the oldest is not discarded or neglected, but on the contrary, 
exercises supreme authority over the younger females of the household, and occasionally 
over the gentleman himself, who pays great respect to his ancient squaw, or first love. 
She acts as a sort of house or hut-keeper to the rest, and cooks their simple meals." 
Though polygamy is permitted by every Hindu code and in every age to all classes, yet 
the practice of it among the Hindus is not general : in fact it seldom happens even 
among the wealthy. When more wives are taken during the lifetime of the first, she 
is always considered as the mistress of the family, all religious ceremonies are con- 
ducted by her and under her exclusive management. The other wives, who are deno- 
minated secondary or auxiliary wives, are considered as her younger sisters^ from 
whom, as to their senior and superior, all deference and respect and even service, if 
required, is due. Among the Kulins (a class of Brahmans in Bengal), the daughter s ; 



24 



as with other castes, are not allowed to marry below their ranks. A Kulin ordinarily 
takes, at least, two wives ; , one from his own caste, as a duty to the order, and another 
from some other family with a valuable portion. The latter consideration induces many 
to multiply their wives still further. There are even some who gain an infamous sub- 
sistence by the practice, marrying from twenty to a hundred women, with each of whom 
they receive a fortune. 

21. On the birth of a child the ancient Indian etiquette in Guyana requires that the 
husband and father should take to his bed or hammock for several days, where, with 
solemn countenance and an appearance of suffering, he receives the visits of his 
acquaintances, who either condole with him on the birth of a daughter, or rejoice with 
him on the birth of a son. The birth of a daughter is looked upon as a calamity ; no 
joy attends her natal hour * The Indians of Guyana are extremely fond of their children 
—■sons— and so indulgent that they very rarely indeed chastise them. In like manner, 
the Hindus exhibit much fondness for their children, though greatly more for sons than 
daughters.f The birth of a daughter is generally accounted a calamity, rather than a 
b leasing. _ The father and the husband refuses to speak to the mother or to see his child ; 
and the friends, relatives, and neighbours, particularly the females, upbraid the inno- 
cent wife, and condole with the unkind husband, as if he were cruelly treated by his 
partner. The teaching of the Hindu laws regarding parents and children is to be seen 
from the following quotations from the ffidisdram and the Smritis :— " For five years 
he (the son) should be treated like a prince ; for ten years as a slave ; but when he has 
attained to the sixteenth year a son should be treated as a friend."—" Her father pro- 
tects her (the daughter) in infancy, her husband in youth, and her son in her old age ; 
no woman ever possesses independency" 

22. The Indian mothers always carry their infants on their hips as soon as they are 
able to hold on. Previously to this fashion of carrying them they carry them in a wide 
endless woven band, passed across one shoulder and the opposite hip. This is exactly 
the way in which the Hindu mothers carry their infants. 

23. When a child is born it is named by the Piaiman, {Pyadasi, Piatsang, Police) 
ov conjuror, who receives an offering of considerable value, and the strength of the 
incantations, which he pronounces on that occasion in a dark hut, corresponds with 
that of the fee. The birth of the child, especially a son, is attended with a variety of 
superstitious and meaningless ceremonies ; and likewise in naming the child there is 
always some reference made to some peculiarity in the. child itself. Even so among the 
coolie immigrants in British Guyana the birth of a child is observed with a variety of 

* It is certain that parental feelings are in the East as well as in the West, among the 
Indians, very extensively and essentially different, in reference to sons and daughters. In the 
works on Hindu law or literature, or on the aborigines of the colony that have appeared in 
English, I do not recollect a passage indicating an increase of happiness on the birth of a 
daughter. Many texts might be quoted from Manu, as to the importance of a son ; but not 
where a daughter is looked on as a welcome increment. This difference of feeling may be very 
extensively traced. Both Job and Jeremiah make the distinction in nearly the same words : 
" Cursed be the man," exclaims the latter in the bitter absence of comfort and cbarity, "who 
brought tidings to my father, saying, a man-child is born unto thee, making him very glad," 
xx. 15. In both the Hebrew and the Arabic languages the word for a male implies remem- 
brance : for a female, oblivion. The birth of a son causes joy, immense joy, and that of a 
daughter sorrow, deep sorrow and misery. 

f Among the Indians Aborigines and Coolies, if you take notice of a child, not only the 
mother smiles thanks and delight, but the men around likewise, as if a compliment had been 
paid to the whole company. We have, observes Charles Kingsley in his " At Last," almost 
daily proofs of the Coolie men's fondness for their children ; of their fondness also— an excel- 
lent sign that the morale is not destroyed at the root— for dumb animals. A Coolie cow or 
donkey is petted, led about tenderly, tempted with tit-bits. Pet animals, where they can be 
got, are the Coolie's delight, as they are the delight of the wild Indian [of the American 
Continent]. I wish I could say the same of the negro. His treatment of his children and of 
his beasts of burden is, but too often, as exactly opposed to that of the coolie [and the abori- 
ginal Indian] as are his manners. No wonder that the two races do not, and it is to be feared 
aever will, amalgamate ; that the coolie, shocked by the unfortunate awkwardness of gesture, 
and vulgarity of manners of the average negro, and still more of the negress, looks on them 
as savages, while the negro, in his turn, hates the coolie as a hard-working interloper, and 
dispises him as a heathen ; or that heavy fights between the two races arise now and then, 
in which the coolie, in spite of his slender limbs, has generally the advantage over the burly 
negro, by dint of his greater courage, and the terrible quickness with which he wields his 
beloved weapon, the long hard wood quarter- staff,— the hackia stick. 



25 

superstitious ceremonies. The Pujari officiates on the occasion of naming the child, 
and repeats a few mantras or prayers invoking the assistance and guidance of the gods 
whilst naming the child, and gets large presents in the shape of money rice, &c In 
Cevlon and other parts of India children receive their names when about a year old, a 
gathering of friends and relations taking place on the occasion. Their names usua ly 
have reference to some peculiarity in the child, as -punchy small; ' Kalu black; 
« locoo" large, with the addition of " Appo," if of good caste, or a name derived from 
the occupation of the father or place of abode, and so also among the Indians ot 
Guyana. 

[Note. The Indian term Piatsang is evidently a prakrit or ^^^^^^^^^^ 
equivalent to Pya-dasi, another prakrit of Prya-dasi=a, holy man, a beloved ot the > gods. The 
term Pahc6 or Pose is derived from Singhalese language. » The word pachch^Uo and pachchi 
in Singhalese Pase) signifies, severed from unity (with supreme Bouddha-hood) : ^ isaterm 
applied to an inferior being or saint, who is never co-existent with a m V^^nA^ t jshe 
£ only manifested during the period intervening between the mbbana of one and the ^advent 
of the succeeding supreme Bouddha, and attains nibbana without rising to supreme Bouddha- 
hood?" There fs steong evidence also of a Singhalese origin to many of the original Indian 
terms or words.] 

24 The Indians suppose that an unnamed child is more subjected to disease and 
misfortunes than one who has been named. A similar notion is prevalent among the 
Hindus. Hence the anxiety to name the child as early as possible. 

25 It has been a custom among some of the Indian tribes, as the Accaways or 
Kapohn, to bury their dead in a standing posture, assigning this reason : Although 
my brother be in appearance dead, he (i.e. his soul) is stiU alive." " Therefore to main- 
tain by an outward sign this belief in immortality, some of them bury -their dead erect, 
which they say represents life, whereas lying down represents death. Others bury their 
dead in a sitting posture, assigning the same reason." A strange custom or practice, 
but evidently borrowed or introduced from India. Samddhi, (Tamil and Sanskrit,) is a 
term which signifies death; and Samddhi-KvzM, the circular grave into which the 
dead or lifeless body is cast or put. The practice of burying a corpse m a sitting posture 
with certain ceremonies connected with it, is still carried on m various parts ot India 
anion*? the Jogies or Yogies— certain religious sects or mendicants ; a caste ot -Hindus 
who are usually weavers. 1 remember witnessing when quite a boy a ceremony ot this 
kind— namely burying the dead in a sitting posture- m the year 1840, at a place called 
Salvandikapatam. near to Tanjore. The practice of burying the dead in a standing 
posture is also observed by a certain class of Hindu mendicants m some parts vt 
Southern India : though it is not general. The Eastern custom of burying the dead m 
a sitting posture with the face to the East is also observed by the Patagoman Indians. 

[Note.-From the fact of the Indians burying the dead in the posture niis t . described we may 
conclude that they have some idea of a future state-the resurrection of the body and rew axdb 
and Dunishmor.ts. They look upon death as sleep: awakening presupposes sleeping. lhe 
Indians u^ the word death in the ,ame sense a the following Greek words Kovnan and 
Katheudein, both of which signify to sleep, used in a special sense, to mm ^l^'f^^X 
which terms cannot be used in reference to the death of brutes. These two term s imply 
Zaling, and therefore whenever we find in the Bible this word skepwg used of the deceased, 
it never means that the soul is in a state of unconsciousness, but tne very contrary, denoting, 
as it does, that the deceased will rise again.] 

26 Among some Indian tribes, as the Antis, if a person dies, his relatives and 
friends assemble in his abode, seize the body (which is wrapped in a loose sact-like 
frock usually worn) by the head and feet, and throw it into the river and sink it. I hey 
then wreck the dwelling, break the deceased's bow, arrows, and pottery, scatter the 
ashes of his hearth, devastate his crops, cut down to the ground the trees which he had 
planted, and finally set fire to his hut. This place is thenceforth shunned by all passers- 
by or Vazhi-polcUr. Even so, it is a practice among Hindus to throw the corpse into 
the Gangd nadi (Ganges river) and other sacred rivers, and to burn or destroy by 
fire everything belonging to the deceased, and to shun the very spot where he lived lne 
J6gi or Yogi Hindu caste sometimes sink in water the corpse of a deceased relative or 

friend * 

~^ The supposed Indian or Creole word « __o«e"'' or » Mattee" for a Mend so gently -used 
bv the people in the colony, is synonymous with the Hebrew " Ish. Job (19. 19) applies it in 
this - sense! ? when using Mat!, he speaks of Mati-sodi, which the common or authorised version 

E 2 



5h 



27. In India cremation or burning the dead body is the common and universal nrae 
a ?l S °-? e Pou - WI ™f Indians-a very laJge and fierce triCXlSSSti^ 
head of the Essequebo-burn their dead instead of burying them 

wie in SlfS| 'afe SS^&fe' ^ 

28 "The Indians are strict observers of hospitality. When a stranger enters tho 
dweUmg of an Indian, he is sure of being entertained by him with tie best ^^at his com 
ZtJ^ "f ^ SG V bef r M V he KaSsiHe (° aSSer -) drinkpre^ntel if Pa warie" 
tLi it ll'v* i 6 T y k l n - dn6 ^ Shewn ' * his conduct be civil "id decent It is Tut 

than ?nst ^if aS entHled t0 a similar rece P tio *' but » no more 
than just. The Hindus m like manner are a very hospitable people It is ae-aW 

ctoei duty ot the domestic order, and includes both reception of the stranger and auest 
which is a religious rite, and the free, full, entertainment of ordina™st^ ^ friends 

™^A% m ^ m - ? en , CG the HinduS take S reat V^snre m^fSgfTrthe 
accommodation and support of the pilgrims, travellers, and other poo Sns the 
Savadi, or Chathram, the "Travellers' Bangaloe." 1 P ersons > tne 

29. Among the Indians the piercing or boring of the ears and septum of the nose 
takes place at an early age. The Lengua and Machicuy Indiansof tt ie Pampean 
family termed collectively the Indians of the Geand Chaco, or Great Set 

whTeh IT ^ qU !i te y ° Ung ' - and paSS thro ^ h them a bit of woi the wXof 
which they keep incessantly increasing, so that towards forty years of age the holes are 
of enormous dimensions. In like manner the Hindus, males and fema Ses as tho 
Shanars, &c pierce the septum of the nose (in which the nose rings are worn) and he 

ZniT e T U u g ' and P f 8 thr0U ^ the holes of tbe ears ™* of wood o? different 
Z U 6 h ° l Zl becom f 1 , of enormous dimensions, and the ears hang down as far as 

rtLt^T^V 16 e T thnS haD ^ down are called TolleikMdu, fnd the men and 
women Tolleikhadar. A common practice in India, 

[A rather interesting and amusing fact is stated in the History of British India 
P^es of paper put in the holes of the ears of the natives Jb^^S 
means Warren Hastings saved himself, and probably India, in 1781. Havini no force 
wherewith to repel the infuriated people, and in order to make his da^erou! position 
known to the English authorities at Calcutta, &c„ Warren Hastings adopted the fol 
lowing expedient : The natives of Bengal were in the habit of weJlglXl ^ earring " 
It'Ji I travelling- they usually took them out, and put in their placfs a smXrZ 
paper to keep the hole m the ear open. Hastings wrote letters on small pieces of paner 
which were conveyed to their destination in the ears of their bearers, P and eve E 
British army arrived and relieved him at Benares. (See Warren Hastings by Maolvd^.)] 

«pW m^ erent * ndian tribes as » ^ole live in a state of warfare amongst them- 
^Urata^T^^ ^ st ~^ the chase and fishingVe ingt 
3 l2? ■ i ?°™! \ & l d 1 arr0WS of several sizes and sha P es ar e manufactured 

and the latter are pointed with fish bones, stones or iron." They alwavs live in the 
interior, which is their dominion, and when attacked, they retreauXThe rocks and 

i a f+o^ anSl S ted thuS: " A " m y ^ward friends abhorred me/' but which the m^i^H^fpr 
pretation has more correctly rendered, "all the men of mv » rti , ™ r 8 

. S*HPK^ S£ n C e a the Tam " WOrd or Pou^ar, agriculturists, 



27 



jungle, whence the pursuer is overwhelmed by showers of poisoned arrows from an 
invisible foe. They exhibit an indomitable love of hunting, and are always armed with 
bows and arrows. In various parts of Hindustan we witness this same state. The 
people exhibit an indomitable love of hunting", and are armed with bows and arrows. 
They usually live in a state of warfare with intruders or their more civilised neighbours, 
supporting themselves by hunting and thieving. When attacked, they retire into the 
rocks and jungles, whence the pursuer, or intruder, or enemy is overwhelmed by 
showers of dangerous arrows from invisible foes. They seem, indeed, to be natural 
denizens of the forests, receding into its depths as cultivation advances upon the out- 
skirts, and again taking their revenge by devastations so extensive that the jungle has 
often recovered its dominion, and the ruins of villages are seen among the haunts of 
wild beasts. 

31. Among the Indians members of the same family or tribe frequently form small 
villages or hamlets, of from six to ten houses ; and sometimes more ; over such com- 
munities a chief tan or headman presides, called " Yuputorikung" in the Carib language, 
or "Toyeputori" in the Macussie, whose authority is only acknowledged to its full 
extent during feuds and Avars amongst neighbouring tribes. In a similar manner in 
many of the country or rural districts of Iudia members of the same family form their 
villages, of from five to twenty houses, and appoint a headman or potaAl (or Top-PU- 
dupei, head, or lord of the grove or village, which Tamil word exactly agrees with 
the Macussie word above given) with a kind'of magisterial authority to preside over the 
village, and settle all disputes. The little Indian commuuity, complete in itself, forms 
a sort of republican municipality. His authority is acknowledged and obeyed only 
during disturbances, &c. He then becomes their counsellor and guide. 

32. Among the Mandans — a tribe of North American Indians— there is a religious 
ceremony practised which is a facsimile of the Hindu Shedclel, or Charah, (hook- 
swinging,) which is done in honour of Mdriamman, or the goddess Doorga. 

[Note—The Mandans considered themselves the first great people in, and the rightful 
owners of, that part of America which they inhabited : and hence Mandans or Mandars. If 
this view be correct then the word or term is equivalent to the Tamil M&nthan, people, men ; 
on Mdndan, victorious, illustrious men or people.] 

33. One striking peculiarity in the physiognomy of the Indians is the want of beard. 
" Except the Otkomacquen and the Guyanos, all the Indians seen in the colony are 
beardless. No hair grows on their face, or is allowed to grow." Speaking of some of 
the Indian tribes, Mr. J. G. Wood (author of the Uncivilised Races," &c, says : 
" These Indians pull out or nip on 2 the beard with small steel tweezers. This instru- 
ment was originally, as the Mapuche name signifies, a clam shell, but, by intercourse 
with the whites, they have been able to procure a more elegant article. Every dandy 
carries his tweezers hanging from his neck, and at leisure moments amuses himself by 
smoothing his face to the taste of his painted mistress. The arguments they use in 
defence of their treatment of the beard are precisely those used by shavelings the world 
over." "They do not content themselves with merely removing the hair from the chin, 
cheeks and upper lip, but pull out the eyelashes and eyebrows, substituting instead of 
the latter a slender curved line of black paint." In this respect also the Indians 
resemble many of the Hindus in the Northern Provinces of Hindustan, and the Indo- 
Chinese. I have seen several such Hindo-coolies in the Colony of British Guyana on 
the different sugar estates. They are generally called Khosd.ddmi, beardless men. 

[Note— Only a short time ago (June 30, 1881,) I saw two Indians at Dr. W. Knight's resi- 
dence who had come from up the Demerary, belonging to the Accaway or Waccaway tribe, 
who had hair on the chin, cheeks, and upper lip. They spoke English, and said they belonged 
to Parson Dance's church up the Demerary. Three days after I saw some half a dozen 
Indians in Water-street with beard and moustache. They said they belonged to the Arrawaak 
tribe. I believe several of the smooth faced Indians do not allow any hair to grow on their 
face; but why I cannot tell. Perhaps those persons who are better acquainted with the 
different Indian tribes may be able to explain. J 



2s 



JSection y. 

primitive mexican indian civilization; and the lan. 

GUAG-ES OF THE INDIANS. 

1. We read that tlie Primitive Mexican Indians, or the Aztecs of the Southern 
family of the North Branch, occupying the high-grounds to the north of the isthmus 
when first discovered, were an agricultural people, much more advanced in civilization 
than the wandering tribes to the east and north of them. They knew how to work 
mines, prepare metals, and set precious stones as ornaments. They lived in towns and 
some of their buildings were constructed of stones hewn into regular forms ; and they 
possessed a written language which preserved the memorials of their history. They 
were advanced in the sciences, and were profoundly imbued with the sentiments of 
religion ; and their sacred ceremonies were full of pomp but accompanied by expiatory 
sacrifices revolting in their barbarism. Their idols were mis-shapen images of serpents 
and other hideous creatures. They delighted in blood, and thousands of human sacrifices 
were annually offered. They carried back their annals to very remote antiquity. These 
annals were traced in historical paintings or picture writings. Mr. J. G. Wood (Author 
of " The Uncivilised Races in all the Countries of the World"), ascribing to the Aztecs 
a probable Egyptian origin, says : " One of the greatest beauties of Mexico was a large 
square, daily filled with merchants, who came to buy and sell the various works of art 
in gold, silver, and feathers for which the Mexicans [not the mixed people, the descend, 
ants of' the Spanish Conquerors, who had contracted alliances with the natives] were 
famous. Between the city and the borders of the lake a (100,000) hundred thousand 
canoes were continually passing ; besides which mode of transit three vast causeways 
were built on the lake. The capital was not the only city of the waters, for more than 
fifty large cities and a multitude of villages were built on the same lake. The dress of 
the nobles was most gorgeous, and their persons were adorned with gold and jewels in 
profusion. Their treasuries were filled with the precious metals, and gold was as plen. 
tiful in Mexico as copper in Europe." Quite oriental in style and manner of life. 

2. If we would but turn over the pages of the ancient history of India, whenever 
they are available, or look to the remotest scenery now obscured by the mist of 
antiquity, we would be able to discern a spot somewhere towards the north-west from 
which we could trace out the current of the progress of the Aryas (ancient Hindus) 
flowing south-east beyond the Hindu Kush, forming in its passage in that direction 
the whole continent of India into a vast lake and terminating down as far as Jaya and 
Borneo, spreading throughout these immense territories new ideas and new religions. 
There are evidences also of a powerful kingdom existing in the south of India, which 
long withstood the Brahmanical invasion. "That some degree of civilisation had been 
reached may be inferred from the perfection of the Tamil language, which, attaining to 
a maturity before the introduction of Sanskrit, has not only survived that learned 
tongue, but contains a literature scarcely inferior to its rival. Ancient India produced 
poets, philosophers, and mathematicians, such as Vyasa, Goutam, Kalidas, Bhawaubhut, 
Aryabhat, Bhashkar, Acharya, and a host of others, whose original lofty genius is now 
universally allowed by those who have deeply studied them, to be by no means inferior 
to that of Shakespeare, Locke, and Newton, making due allowance, however, for the 
remote age in which they lived or flourished. There were in India in those rude days 
men whose minds could conceive the idea and execute the plan of such noble, stupendous, 
and elegant works as the excavations at Ellora, Ellphanta, and several other places in 
Hindustan, the various hill forts of great magnitude in places high and diflicult of 
access in the Deckhan, the beautiful temples and pagodas scattered throughout the 
length and breadth of India, and last, the elegant and magnificent arches of Delhi, the 
Taj Mahal at Agra, the great Canal of Joanpur, and numerous other works of civil and 
military architecture. There were (and still are) men who knew how to work mines, 



2^ 



prepare metals, and set precious stones as ornaments. " In India the secrets of trades 
arc handed down from father to son, and the experience of centuries concentrated on 
each. The Indian workman has not got his equal in many arts. In architecture look 
at the exquisite buildings in India ; look at their earrings ; their Trichinopolychains, 
which an European workman cannot make ; their carpets, shawls, muslius ; their steel, 
which was made in India, on perfectly scientific and chemical principles, two thousand 
years since, and which England cannot surpass ; in proof, Sheffield manufacturers 
stamp their often inferior goods ' India steel,' to enhance their value. Quintus Curtius 
mentions that Porus gave Alexander a quantity of steel— an acceptable offering." The 
dress of the nobles and other wealthy people among Hindus, and especially the native 
ladies, is most gorgeous, and their persons are adorned with decorative ornaments of 
gold and precious jewels of much weight. These, and the existing living written Ian- 
guages (not including the classic Sanskirt and Tamil) fully prove the vastly civilised 
condition of Hindus.* They have a system of revealed religion which is full of pomp 
and grandeur though [nowj accompauied by expiatory sacrifices revolting in their 
barbarism. Such a nation evidently spread themselves, as already stated, far and wide, 
and thus found their way to the American Continent, and left the remnants or progeny 
not only in the Mexican territory, but in the Guyanas as well. But when, and how this 
colonization was effected is in complete darkness. It would be vain to speculate. And 
yet the fact seems that the Indians of the American Continent are the counterpart of 
the Hindus. 

3. I have stated that India possessed two ancient classic languages (the Sanskrit or 
Devanagri, and Tamil ; or as the Tamils are pleased to call these languages the Vada. 
mozhi, the northern speech, supposing it to have originated in the north of India, and 
Ten-mozhi, the southern speech, because Pothyamale, the mountain in which Agastya 
lived, is in the south of India), the one dead and the other still living There are many 
learned philologists who maintain that both the Sanskrit and Lat or Pahli alphabets are 
derived from the Dravidian, as the Aryans brought no alphabet with them. The 
Dravidian Tamil, divided into two branches Shen— high, and Kodun — low or vulgar, 
which is the parent of all the languages and dialects spoken in Southern India, is as 
independent of the Sanskrit, as the Singhalese or Pahli is of the Dravidian. These 
two languages, the Sanskrit and Tamil may also be considered the source whence all the 
American Indian languages and dialects are derived. With the exception of the adulte- 
rated dialects of the modern Indians of the Guyanas and the American Continent, in 
which alar^e collection of words from the Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, English, 
and African has been introduced,fall the languages and dialects formerly spoken by them 
may be traced to the Asiatic tongues, especially to the Sanskrit and Tamil. Though 
like the languages of Hindustan, all the languages spoken by the different tribes of 
Indians are distinct, yet a linguist or a philologist may recognize among them some 
common roots, in the same way as in our own day they have been found to exist between 
European tongues and those of India. 

4. It is a well known fact that the same language spoken a few centuries back by the 
same race of men has become unintelligible to one another. In hundreds of cases the 
associations which words had when they were first brought into the English language 



* The Tamilians, of Southern India are the most capable of intellectual attainment, the 
most susceptible of ambition, the most active, enterprising, and sensitive. Their ancient 
home was in the Southern •xtremity of India, extending from Cape Comeriu to a little above 
Madras on the east coast, and to Trevendrun on the west. A thousand years before the 
Christian era this was the most powerful and highly-civilized kingdom of the South. In arts, 
mechanics, and manufactures its inhabitants are still pre-eminent. Literature is held in high 
esteem there. " The wandering Tamil poet," says the Rev. George Trevor, "like the trouba- 
dour of old, is sure of an intelligent audience and a hearty welcome in every village. The 
majority of Hindus in the Eastern Archipelago, and of emigrants to the West Indies, are 
Tamilians. They have been called the Greeks or Scotch of the East." The language spoken 
by them is called Tamil, and means sweet, and indeed not only soft and sweet, but very 
idiomatic, and coeval with the Sanskrit. Many Hebrew words in the Old Testament may be 
traced to the Sanskrit and Tamil. The Arrawaak language like the Tamil is most remark- 
able for its softness. It is a proverbial saying among the Arrawaaks, that "none can 
thoroughly master their tongue, unless his mother were one of the lokono." A similar saying 
is current among the Tamilians. 

f e.g. Kabaritu, a goat ; Karina, a fowl ; Sapatu, a shoe, &c, being corruptions of the 
Spanish or Portuguese. So, many corrupted Dutch and English words are incorporated with 
the Indian tongues, 



30 



iiave changed. Words are introduced into one language from another, but in popular use 
tne sound is so altered that the word becomes unintelligible to persons speaking the 
tongue from which it was taken. Witnin the limits of the same Language, as well as m the 
passage from one language to another, these mutations in sound take place, though not in 
the same degree. In course of time such changes of word and lip in branches of the same 
race occupying differed localities create dialects, because the changes are not o-oin^ 0 n 
m the several localities in the same direction, and perhaps not in the same de|ree. 
When the process has been carried on for a longer time and to a further sta^e the result 
is the formation of different languages. What are now regarded as the languages of 
the Aboriginal races of the Guvanas were at an earlier stage only various dialects of the 
common tongue of the Hindu or the Asiatic population of the Great Eastern Old World 
Speaking of the ehanges which have taken place in the language of the Aboriginal 
Indians of America,. Mr. J. G. A o 1 jbserves : - This alteration in their language is 
due to the natire fondness for inventing words and sentences during their conversation 
with each other., a custom which bears some resemblance to that of punning anion* 
ourselves. When these invented words happen to please the people's fancv, they are 
retained in the language, so that in a few years after a family has separated "itself from 
the parent tribe the two dialects will have receded so far from each other that the people 
can hardly understand each other. To the philologist this fluctuation of lanonage 
would be exceedingly interesting. Sir R. Schomburgk mentions a fact which is a sin. 
gular corroboration = the rapidity with which language changes am rmg thes^ tribe- 
There was a parrot living in 1800, which spoke well, but many of wh x words could not 
be understood, because it spoke the language of the Atures. a tribe which had passed 
entirely out of recollection after it had been mastered by the warlike Caribs." It is 
evident also, as stated in Section iii.. 4, that for many centuries, the Indians 
being ignorant of the elementary science sod ang strangers also to books and letters, 
the languages or dialects spoken by the different tribes are not onlv generally corrupted! 
but have nndergone ; : nsiderable changes both in spelling and pronunciation of words! 
and in numerous instances in signification rise that it would seem almost difficult to 
trace their origin or parentage. 

5. In the derivation of the Indian terms.. I find more Sanskrit and Tamil than any 
other language or tongue of the Eastern Empire. There are., however, many words in 
the Indian dialects which are now not satisfactorily traceable to Sanskrit or Tamil, or 
any other oriental language : but a careful study of the Prakrit (in which the Sanskrit 
and Tamil have been broken up so as to form many living languages of Northern and 
Southern India . will throw some light upon it. The f olio wing few will shew the great 
changes made in the course of time, e g. Latl % from YashtUi ; ndch from Sritiya ; mor 
from 2s£ayurah; bis from Vinsati, &c. I have already in the previous sections given 
numerous instances of the derivation of Indian words or terms from the Sanskrit or 
Tamil, and I shall now further place before the reader a short list of words shewing 
their Eastern origin, and thus establishing also the origin of the natives of the Ameri- 
can Continent especially of the Guyanas. e g. ■. — 

(a.) The canals are called by the Indians " Etabbo," from " eta," mauritia, and " abbo,'' 
water-course. The word " abbo." is from " ab" (Hind) water. The local name given by the 
resident Aheers. a tribe of Hindus (See Section III.. 11) to a tract of country between the 
Kdla-nadi and the Eazxca-nadi. including the greater part of the Pergnnah of Marchra. is 
Aiabu. 

(b.) When a child is born, it is named by the Payes : Penman, or Piaiman. conjuror, sorcerer, 
medicine man ; beloved of the gods or Pyadasi. This word is a corruption of the Tamil 
Peyman. Peymanidan or Peyhhiran. literally a devil man. conjuror., sorcerer, juggler. 

(c.) Tona or Wuni is another Indian term for water, but evidently a corruption of the Tamil 

Tannir. a~d the vulgar Hiudi P':.ni. 

a./ Kamxatxa is a Carlo term signifying the Bamboo, or bamboo walk and is evidently 
derived from the Tamil Kdmim, same as M&ngH 3 bamboo, and jpxfni, a wav. or walk. row. 
road, line : hence Kampiiihi, a bamboo walk., or grove from an enormous cluster of these tree* 
which stand near the house of the people. 

(e.) Yanamarie fas the Aiaraipu-vanamarie, and Eaie ieu r-vanaraarie.) means a cataract, or 
B - eat fall ;: a large I : iy of w ater, has in like manner its derivation from the Tamil Vanam, 
a large body of water., a C:ri or iru. a river : hence a aaamdm, or vanamdri. a large continuous 
pour or flow of water from the mountain top. Compare with the Indian :ana/ruirie. the two 
Tamil words rnanamari. a reservoir of water fed by the rain only: and mai.aco.rx. land of 
which the cultivation depends solely upon rain ; not being irrigated artificially. 



31 

(t) Kanaima-the avenger of Mood.' JThis is the ^appellation ^^J^ffff^ SXvan 
But whence its derivation? In the fifty-nine 59 languages and dialects of the Malayan 
IndiauArchi pela"o the only nearest approach or resemblance to the word Axma I can find 
S^iSS?^^^,^ " Far?' in the Tidore languages The Guyanian Indian Ian- 
gW" and dialects like those of the Malays family ft fi^^^XS^ 1 ^ 
Shilolorists Revd. C. D. Dance in his " Gmanese Log Book reverting to tne LrteeK ivan 
SSffiS^TS tart Wma or Kanna (Kanon) the rule or la w-haama ^ (to ) of 

Wood," for the derivation of this Indian term " Kanmma," observes : ^SS^ 
ever that the phonetic-English spelling of an Indian word may not be suffacient giouncl on 
whToh to found aXivation? I, however, maintain that the Indian "Kanaima" is derived 
frSSlS -L," '<Kon» ( he Hindi 

" Kol " " Kolci " murder ■ and " Ayaman," " namcm," eman, God at deatn , a peison or 
a fiendish or devih h S^fetart upon shedding blood, and hence ^^'^S 
S oTiimS a murderer, a snedder of blood ; one^i^^J^^^^ 
fhp hlnod of his fellow in any hiding place first to hand, and hence again Koiei-paaagan. 
This is "the meaning of The two Tamil Foots, and exactly agrees with the Indian idea or notion 
of a " Kanaima." 

(g.) The Indian " Pnmafcer]/' '-White man or European-is a prakrit or corruption of the 
Tamil " Parangi," Parangik-Karan." 

(h.) « Gaidaru"-* kind of war club-is from the Tamil « K6Mri" an axe, a 

hatchet , or from " Keithadi," " geithadi," a hand weapon with which to defend. 

(i ) The Arracanian word " Poncho"-* circular piece of stuff, with a hole in the centre, 
through which the head passes-is a corruption of the Tamil « PottU," a garment with a hole ; 
or " Pondu," a garment or cloth with a hole. 

(j.) The Arracanian word " CUryga"--*, sort of compromise between a kilt and trousers, is 
in Tamil " ikrdA," trousers. 

(fc.) The drinking cup is by the Indians called " Cuja," and is in Tamil " K^a," or " Kusa," 
a goblet or gogelet : a cup or vessel to drink water out of. 

00 The "Matipie"-& cassava strainer, is identical with the Tamil" Matthu," or " Mart* 
thanam," a pounding, or churning stick ; a strainer, &c. 

(m.) The Indian word " Ikhe-kee," or " Ikkoonuh" for fire, is." Akn%" " Agni>" " Akkini" 
in Tamil and Sanskrit. 

(11.) Aivadooley," " Ahaaka," wind, air, is " " Hava" in Tamil and Hindi. 

(0.) " Secan^o," " Asekara," " Secaramutuh" -sugar-is in Tamil " Sakkarei," " Sarkarei." 

(p.) Dai-iyu is my mother, and the corresponding Tamil is Tai, Ayi, (same as mAM) a pet 
name for mother, my mother. 

(q.) The words in the following' list are strikingly oriental in their derivation 
(1.) English. (2.) Aboriginal Indian. (3.) Corresponding Tamil. 

Arrow Ataboo ; Atavoo Attavanam ; Banana. 

Back Yaabooh Abaram ; Yabaram. 

Back Maahuh Mudugu. 

Blood Hothuhr Uthiram. 

Bone Yenpoh ; Yenpuh Enbu ; Elumbu. 

Flesh Daseeroquaw Tasei. 

Hair Maaheer Mayir. 

Hook Kehweey ; Kuhweh Koluvi ; Kolukku ; Keival. 

House Vaacheh or Baacheh Vasal; Vasam; Vachal. 

House Yeowteh; Outa Vidu ; Vudu. 

Knife Eadawalla Arival ; Irval. 

Nose Mayhecaddy; Muhecaddy... Mukku ; Mukkotti ; Mugakattie. 

g un Hadalley; Yah; Yahadith... Adavan ; Adittam. 

Sun Husuray Suriyan. 

The "Great Spirit's house" in the Indian language " Mackunaima-outa, exactly 
corresponds with the Tamil " Magdnmd.vidu, (from Mdgd, great Anmd, .soul life, 
spirit; and Vidu, house,) the residence of the Great Soul, Life, or Spirit of the 
Universe, — God. 

IT 



32 



velpl^n^TaMUiA^^ " L ° rd ' S Fmyer " in the Arraw ^ language, with cor- 

(1.) Watchinatchi-Om Father. The Tamil Asan is a spiritual instructor or father. The 
Vellallar term nyan, "Any," whence " Atchi," is a pet term for father. The two 
lamil terms Appachi— father, -and Ndchi (fern. gen. from Ndyagan, Nddan,) a lord, 
master, a chief , god ; together— Appachi-ndchi— signify, "God our Father and Mother," 
a mode ot expression very common in Southern India. The aboriginal term has the 
same idea m it. 

(2.) ii Ayumbanum' , -hea,ven-is " Uyarvdnum," the heaven, or sky above, the dwelling 
place of the Great Father. 6 

(3.) ''^dai/a^m' '-Kingdom -is " Adigdram," dominion, power, kingdom, and Adiqaran, 
one who has power. y ' 

(4.) " Bansissia"— will— is " Vdnjei," " manachittam," will, desire. 

(5.) " Banikitan"—be done— " Pannudal" " Pannugirathu." In Hindi £<mdo, to make. 

(6.) "Busika"— give to eat—" Pusittal," " Pusikkudal," (l Pdjanum," food. 

(7.) " Wakayahoe," " TFi akaiy atchi"— evil, wickedness— garner, Agdmyum, malice, malevo- 
lence, injury, wickedness, -cruelty, evil. ' " uuovo 

n &1 ^n^ 6 wiF V?" -?^ lt0n in his " ffistor?/ o/ Guiana," vol. 1, page 74, has given 

, P S, ny additional instances might be given, but they would exceed my limits and weary the 
reader. He will however, perceive that there is a strong affinity even in the languages, 
^c^ offfinto^ 0 nati0DS - the Indians of the American Continent, and the Asiatics 

in [ ^n^7? n | ^ S ^ rS ijS icl1 p «>?essor Ma X Midler delivered to the Congress of Orientalists, 
SnJf Sf ?wvf P ' ' PI' S - P f a i m ?.?/ the lan ^age of the Veddahs (the aboriginal inhabi- 
fff wnv^SiA n( S fce A T l ltl1 the 1 ^ 1 lU i v - lhe of Southern India,) says " that more than half 
if t ,1 ? ? J th ? Y ed dahs are, like Singhalese itself, mere corruption of Sanskrit. There 
lf 9 S S fi W01 ^ S i^ * heir language of which I can make nothing as yet ; but so much is 
certam-either the Veddahs started with the common inheritance of Aryan words and ideas, 
or at all events, they lived for a long time in contact with Aryan people, and adopted from 

wL * W T H^ Ve 7l an ^ g in i heir lan g u age." Similar remarks are applicable to the 
languages spoken by the Aborigines of Guyana.] 

rT 6 ^" T1 l e .i faC i Ulty ^ f ac< l uirin g language is singularly developed in the Fuegian" 
Llndian tribesj. " GeneraUy, the inhabitants of one country find great difficulty in 
mastering the pronunciation, and especially the intonation, of a foreign land ; but a 
*uegian can repeat almost any sentence after hearing it once, though of course he has 
not the slightest idea of its meaning." An English sailor once found himself on shore, 
and assuming a menacing attitude, bawled out, " you copper-coloured rascal, where is 
my tin pot r 1 The Fuegian, no wise disconcerted, assumed precisely the same attitude, 
and exclaimed m exactly the same manner, "you copper- coloured rascal, where is my 
P ° t tr J* turned out ' " the copper-coloured rascal" had the pot tucked under his 
arm. {Mr. J. G. Wood.) This I consider, is one of the many instances of the adaptabi- 
lity and universality of the English language as the language of the nations of the 
world. All existing languages will be superseded by the English. 

7. Napoleon Bonaparte aimed at universal monarchy. He said he would give to the 
nations of the earth one language (French), one coin, one code of laws, and make 
± rance the Capital or Emporium of the world. What he vainly desired has now 
become a literal fact as far as the English language is concerned; and England 
to-day, and not France, is looked upon as the Capital, Centre, Emporium of the world. 
1 here is scarcely a nation in the known world under the sun where a smattering of the 
English language is not known and heard, and a desire expressed for a better and more 
extensive knowledge of it. The language of more than three quarters of Christendom, 
and ot the most active and the most reading people is emphatically the English. It is 
much more spoken in Africa and southern Asia than all the other European languages 
put together. Professor Decandole, in his recent work " The History of Science;* 
states it as his decided conviction that " in sixty years hence the English language will 
be spoken by 860,000.000 of mankind, the German by 124,000,000, and the French by 
not more than 69,000,000. ' In our own days we witness the German and French giv- 



33 



ing Place to the English. German works are largely read by French speaking people 
in English translations published by Messrs. T. & T. Clark; Hodder and Stoughton, 
&c, &c. The use, extent, and destiny of the English language, as the language ot the 
future, have been fixed by the discovery of America and the movements ot the popula- 
tion in both Hemispheres. Both England and America are looked upon as two great 
lights and centres of the world : and the language spoken m both is to sway over the 
world. In the colony of British Guyana and other parts ot the British West Indian 
Islands the languages and dialects of the African Continent spoken by the ancestors of 
the present Creol? race have altogether passed into oblivion. The English is the 
adopted and native language of the present race of the West Indians. The very Abori- 
ginal inhabitants (the Indians) of the Colony, I am given to understand, are always 
ready to adopt the English in preference to their many dialects, and can cany on a 
conversation with very great ease in that language. Thousands of our East Indian 
coolies also speak the language freely and readily. 

8 In India, (whence our Coolies or labourers come to the West Indies,) English 
Education and English Schools are increasing and multiplying rapidly every where 
The Government ..nd the different Protestant Missionary Societies are actively engaged 
in doing this great work. Lord William Bentinck issued the following order m ISod 
(which is carried out to the full extent at the preseut day) :— 

"His Lordship in Council is of opinion that the great object of the British Government 
ought to be the promoting of European literature and science amongst the natives ot India 
and that all the funds appropriated for the purpose of education would be best employed on 
English education alone." 

"Concerning the Emrlish education in Ceylon which by many good authorities is deemed 
to be by far the most important branch of public instruction, Governor Stewart Mackenzie s 
minute of 1841 stated that it was the duty of the Commission |« to promote the education m 
the English language of their fellow subjects of all religious opinions in the Colony. 

Whilst the English language and superior English education are greedily sought for 
by the natives of India and Ceylon, the Vernacular education in common and country 
village schools is not altogether ignored by the Government and the Missionary {socie- 
ties. At the best the attendance of children in the Vernacular Schools is small and 
irregular: all the children prefer to find themselves if possible and practicable in 
Schools where English is the principal language taught, Among the natives especially 
among those who lay any claims to respectability, there is a perfect rage tor the acquire- 
ment of English— sound English education. In Ceylon and India (and other countries 
or Colonies too) English is recognised as the only competent medium for conveying a 
full course of instruction such as the times demand. The same passion tor English 
knowledge and education is exhibited by the children of our Indian Coolie population. 
These Indian children have no desire or intention whatever to go to India with their 
parents when it is time for them to claim a return passage. The number ot these 
children born in the Colony is annually increasing. They adopt the European style ot 
dress, and speak more freely and readily the English than the language of their parents. 
What I plead in their behalf is, not the repression of this universal desire tor English 
speaking and education, but its careful guidance into the right channels. It the Indian 
and Chinese children, as well as their parents, desire to be taught English, let it be 
done thoroughly, let every possible encouragement be held out to them m that direc- 
tion, and let the best means be taken or adopted to make the knowledge of the language 
a complete one. At the last " Combined Court" both His Excellency the Governor 
(C. H Kortright, Esq., C.M.G.), and the Honourable W. A. G Young CM.Gr, 
(Lieutenant-Governor, and Government Secretary) strongly deprecated the children ot 
East Indian immigrants being taught any language but the English, as otherwise they 
would not so readily become colonists, and remain in the country* It this could be 



* This might be considered by some rather an extravagant, weak, and shortsighted policy 
on the part of the Governor and the Government Secretary to dictate or recommend such a 
course to be adopted by those who are deeply interested in the education and training ot Jthe 
Indian Coolie children ; and might also be considered as utterly inconsistent with the ^ibetty 
of the Indian subject with whom we daily come in contact. It is a well known fact, howevei 
that in India where Paganism and Muhammedanism are rampant, parents as a rule do not 
object to sending their children to Christian schools where English is taught, and the Bible 
made a Text Book. I am in ;a position to assert that in India the Christian Mission 
schools where the Bible is used and taught are more readily and largely patiomsed by 

F 2 



84 



done, then we would in a comparatively short time from now be having an English 
speaking community of Hindo-Guyanians, 

9. In Eangoon Mission work has this marked character ; to be acceptable, and there- 
fore under Divine blessing, successful ; it seems of the utmost importance to introduce 
the English language everywhere, in the schools, the services, &c. English is greedily 
sought for and quickly learned by the Burmese, and it is therefore evident that if 
pupils are to be attracted to the schools where they shall be trained and confirmed in 
the truths of ^ Christianity, English must be adopted as the most hopeful medium for 
imparting religious instructions. The same remarks forcibly apply to our East Indian 
coolies and their children in the Colony and elsewhere. With the exception of the 
newly arrived Coolies who are perfect strangers to the Colony and the people, all the 
old ones and their children everywhere manifest the desire of becoming more perfectly 
acquainted with the English language. " There is now an earnest cry from Calcutta 
f or^ help in a, new field, that of preaching the Gospel in English to educated Hindus. 
This work is assuming great significance, and Missionary Societies are now turning 
their attention to it, and are endeavouring to provide agents to meet the new wants." 
The same earnest cry for the spread of the English language and English Christian 
influence is heard from other parts of the Indian Empire. It is a well known fact that 
in a little less than two or three years after their arrival in the Colony the coolies- 
Indians and Chinese — pick up a smattering of the English language, and are able to 
carry on a conversation with the Creoles of the Colony. It is my firm conviction that in 
a few years hence all the Indian languages and dialects now spoken in the West 
Indian Colonies will give place to and be superseded by the English— the ONE only 

UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE of the world. 



Heathen and Muhammedan parents than those schools where the Bible and Christian or 
religious instructions are excluded or ignored. I have Indian Educational Statistics before 
me, from which, if necessary, I can make extracts shewing that in many of the Districts of 
India, the native children of Pagan and Muhammedan parents who attend Christian Mission 
schools merely for learning the English language outnumber by thousands those who confine 
themselves to the Vernacular languages. I have noticed a similar desire to learn English 
prevalent m British Guyana among the East Indian children. I quite agree with his 
Excellency the Governor and the Honourable Government Secretarv, in the remarks made 
by them to the effect that English should be the only language taught the Indian children 
born m the Colony, or come from India with their parents so as to make Colonists of them 
Young and old among the Indian immigrants are desirous of becoming familiar with the 
language and customs (though they have great aversion to eating beef, which is almost the 
only thing they take objection to) of the Country or Colonv in which thev five, and in this 
desn-e they only carry out the principle laid down by one of their own moralists " Urudan 
otiu vo.zh-'—i e follow or adapt yourself to the customs, language of the country in which 
you live. Whilst I am no great advocate for Denominational Schools in British Guyana yet 
I have no hesitation m saying that the Indian Coolies do not. and will not for a single moment 
object to sending their children to any Christian Denominational Schools in the Colony that 
they might receive secular as well as Christian or religious instructions from their teachers 
especially if they are good men and true. The people of course would prefer teachers of their own 
class, and indeed it is a great pity that we have no Creole Indian Coolies being trained in the 
Colonial Training College to become English teachers. Let a dozen of them be thus trained 
and appointed as schoolmasters we will soon see flocks of Indian children patronising the 
English schools conducted by them. Whatever opposite views might be taken or entertained 
by my fellow Colonists m regard to the education of the Indian children in the English language 
only I am fully convinced in my mind that English as the adopted and spoken language of 
the Immigrants is becoming a literal fact. 



35 



jSECTION VI. 

THE GUYANIAN ROCK INSCRIPTIONS OR PICTURE-WRITINGS AND 
THEIR PROBABLE ORIGIN. 

1. The Pamphlet of Mr. A. Winter entitled " Indian Pictured Rocks of Guiana'' 
contains a great deal of very interesting and useful information on the rock inscriptions 
or fanciful picture-writings or tracings on the rocks in the Interior of Guyana. He 
sa y S ._« These picture-writings are nearly the only antiquities this colony [British 
Guyana] possesses, and they have long been the subjects of curious enquiry; their 
date and meaning are quite unknown, and no information concerning them is to be 
obtained from the present race of Indians. They are to be met with iu many parts of 
Guiana, from the Corentyne to the Amazons, and generally on the banks of a river, 
uear a fall, and cut on the face of granite rocks ;" which " curious carvings probably 
from the mixed character of tliem, one kind being deeply cut, apparently by an edged 
tool, the other being very slightly indented in the face of the rock and showing no mark 
whatever of any cutting instrument, but done apparently by long continued friction," 
have been by Mr. im Thurn called the " deep" kind, and the " shalloiu" kind. By 
means of the " fac-simileograph," Mr. Winter has been enabled to furnish his very 
interesting pamphlet with illustrations of the rock inscriptions or picture-writings from 
drawings previously made by Mr. Brown, the Geologist, and other travellers. _ Much 
has been written about the supposed origin and intention of these picture writings or 
tracings on the rocks of Guyana, but no definite conclusion has as yet been come to 
about them. 

2. Dr. Dalton in his "History of British Guiana," vol. i., p. 52, says :— "The figures 
represented are the most varied and singular description — rude outlines of birds, animals, 
men and women, and other natural objects, but it is not a little curious that among the 
sculpturings should be found some clumsy sketches of large vessels with masts, on some 
granite rocks at the Ilha de Pedra, on the river Negro. In many places the hierolyphies 
appear to represent writings, and the characters have in many instances been traced to 
bear resemblance to the Hebrew and other dialects : whether this is merely a coincidence 
or whether there actually exists a connexion between the languages of the East and 
West, is a problem for the learned to solve. In his illustrated views of British Guiana, 
Sir R. Schomburgk remarks, in reference to these rude sculpturings :— ' A mystery, 
not yet solved, hangs over these sculptured rocks; whatever may be their origin, the 
subject is one of high interest, and demands the full investigation of the antiquarian 
and historian. I have myself traced these inscriptions through seven hundred miles of 
longitude, and five hundred of latitude, or scattered here and there over an extent of 
three hundred and fifty thousand square miles. I have copied many of them, and 
although they do not denote au advanced state of civilisation, in my opinion they have 
a higher origin and signification than that generally ascribed to them ; namely, the idle 
tracings of hunting nations. It is remarkable that the situation of those which I have 
seen was generally near cataracts and rapids. The Indian races of the present day can 
give no account of their origin ; some ascribe them to the Good Spirit, others to their 
forefathers ; and the Taruma Indians, on the river Cuyuwinic, a tributary of the Upper 
Essequebo, gave me in answer to the question who had made the figures which I saw 
sculptured on some blocks of green stone in that river, that ' women had made them 
long time ago.' " 

3. Sometime after I had arrived in the colony and before I had seen or heard oi his 
History of British Guyana, Dr. Dalton called on me with some rude specimens of 
picture-tracings and inscriptions and asked if I had seen them before. After examin- 
ing them carefully I gave him to understand that I had seen similar figures or 
characters on the walls of Hindu temples, and especially in the Bouddhist temples in 
Ceylon. At that time there were two Hindu coolies belonging to the Pu-vaisyar 



36 



(=Pou-wisiana„ see Sect. TV., 27) or Velldlar (agriculturist) caste, Veitthilingam 
who was baptized by me under the name of Elijah Hoole, and Ammdvdsi under the 
name of John Wesley. In their own country they were attached to the heathen temples 
as Priests, in the Tanjore and Madura Districts. When the doctor showed them the 
rude pictures and inscriptions they appeared delighted and asked the doctor when and 
how he got them out from India. They gave him to understand that " such picture 
writings were common on the walls of the Hindu temples, and that they were all 
significant and had religious meanings attached to them. " But as they were no longer 
heathens they had nothing more to do with them. Only the priests and the initiated 
ones were acquainted with the real use and meaning of them." From this conversa- 
tion the doctor had he was convinced more than ever that America and the Guyanas 
were peopled from Hindustan, and that though the present race of Indians could give 
no information whatever concerning the inscriptions, it was more than probable that 
these inscriptions or curious carvings of mixed character were made as commemorative 
events, &c, by the early migrators or settlers from Hindustan. 

4. At first sight I thought the various hieroglyphics or inscriptions (given by Mr. 
Winter in his pamphlet) found on the rocks near the Warraputa rapids, resembled very 
much the characters I had seen in the Sinaitic Yalley, or Wady Mousa — the Valley of 
Moses, in the year 1857. On closer examination I find the Guyanian rock writings to 
resemble the written characters of the Himayaretic, Narbaddo, and ancient Sanskrit 
alphabets. Some of the characters appear to me to be inscribed in broken letters, 
resembling very much the old Grandaic-Tamil, or Malabar of the Tranquebarian type, 
I trace also several characters belonging to the Pali current among the Bouddhists, 
which system of religion rose in the fifth century, B.C. Among the Warraputa 
inscriptions I find the following letters or characters : T (dotted below), J, o, E, u 
(long), th (soft), n (soft and cerebral), atj, th (hard), u, v, and within an enclosure 
I or G, N, and another letter which is doubtful. Evidently these characters or 



5. Among the Warraputa tracings or inscriptions, however, by the aid of Messrs. 
Fresnell and Forster's Himayaretic alphabet I have been able to decipher a few 
characters which closely resemble the ancient Asoka inscription of the Third Century, 
B.C., and the Bouddhist inscription of the Fifth Century, 'B.C., also the Tamil letters 
of the old Tranquebarian type. As far as can be closely imitated by the use of Roman 
characters the following are the letters in one of the inscriptions : — f] {Bh or T) 

{S or N) (Bh or T) I (_R). But what these four letters were intended to signify 
is now impossible for any one to say. I may, however, attempt to throw out a 
suggestion and leave it for the learned scholars to decide. The above characters when 
put or joined together, in the first place stand for the word " Bhasubha" (thi) which 
means " The Lord and Giver of life," and was an epithet of Siva : in the second place 
when they are combined they form the word " Tantra," which means " A religious 
treatise teaching peculiar and mystical formula and rites for the worship of the 
deities, or the attainment of superhuman power." The above cliaracters when turned 
upside down look very much like the Tranquebarian letters as e. g. (J |jj (J — i.e. "Bha. 
yapa\tli\r fear, dread, reverential fear. Just above this inscription and on the left 
of what I suppose to be a Tri-vilakku-tandu (the three branched lamp-stand, or 
chandelier) probably used in temple worship, there is another which (when the charac- 
ters are combined) reads " Prakashe," i.e. manifestation, sunshine, light, lustre. 
Some mystical meaning no doubt was attached to these and others by the first 
inscribers. There are other remarkable mystic characters same as those I have seen 
on the temple pillars and walls in Southern India, but they are beyond ray comprehen- 
sion. The Kabbalists and Alchymists adopted the above method of writing, and is still 
used by the Masonic Fraternity in some of their documents : e.g. "HOSTS! OHJ2QIS 
written for Rosae Crucis, Nomolos was substituted for Solomon, and Marih for 
Hiram. 

6. It is a well known fact that in some old languages letters are thought to have been 
pictures or representations, and to have had their origin in objects of nature ; as the 
horned ox, or that which leads. The house where some form of existence stands, tarries, 
and dwells, &c. The Turanian origin of the characters was hieroglyphic. This kind of 




37 



writing called Chittra Vezhutta— picture-writing— which has been discovered through- 
out India on pillars, walls of the Temples and on rocks— was in use among the early 
Hindu races, and is still practised in some parts of Southern India, Each picture 
represents or signifies something. In the Maha Bhdrata mention is made of the King 
Magadha, or Bahdr. He was the head of many chieftains. Sahddeva was king at the 
time of the war. The 35th in succession from him was Ajdta-Sutra, who died probably 
in B.C. 543. The sixth King from Ajdta-Sutra was Nandu ; and the ninth from him 
was Chandragupta, called Sandracottus by the Greeks— B.C. 315 ; and the third from 
him was the famous patron of Bouddhism, Asoka (B.C. 260—220,) who assumed the 
name of Pryadasi, or Piyadasi, Beloved of the Gods {See Section IV., 23, Note.) 
Edicts of his, favouring Bouddhism, have been found sculptured on rocks in Cuttack, 
Gujarat, and elsewhere. The characters are very similar to those found on the rocks 
in the interior of Guyana. I may mention also that the stone elephant, which is the 
most interesting object at SunUssa, (and called by the Chinese Traveller, Fa Hian 
{AD. 400), Seng-Kia-Shi,) is carved out of precisely the same description of stone as 
the Lat of Delhi and Allahabad. The body of the elephant, which is about three feet 
high and on a pedestal sunk into the ground to the same depth, is well formed, hut the 
snout has been knocked off by some zealous Iconoclast. It bears inscriptions, or 
rather scratches or shallow carvings, much resembling the Guyanian descriptions. 

7. "At Waruputa (says Mr. Winter) is a very peculiar specimen, a group of small 
crosses or crosslets, not arranged in lines like an inscription, but in a confused mass, 
like a cluster of stars. This is a very puzzling figure." These crosses or letters resemb- 
ling the cross appear to me to resemble the Phoenician characters of the Himayaretic 
type. I have already stated that the Greeks, Phoenicians and others sprung from the 
Tchandalas, the mixed body of Pariahs, who iu consequence of persecution in India, 
between B.C. 3,000 and 4,000, emigrated towards the west in crowds, in the direction 
of the Euphrates and Tigris, and other places or countries under Artaxa-Phasical. 
The Palis (from the Sanskrit root Pal, to preserve, and Pala, Shepherd Dynasty, 
which ruled in Bengal from the ninth to the latter part of the eleventh century, and, 
which, if we may put trust in monumental inscriptions, were for some time the universal 
monarchs of India)— or Pastoria Pales of the Romans formerly lords of all India, 
spread themselves at once into Siam, towards the east ; into Italy and Ireland, towards 
the north-west, under the names of Pelasgi and Phailli : and into Egypt and Palestine, 
towards the south-west, under the appellation of Philitin, or Philistin, or Royal 
Shepherds. {See Faber's " Origin of Pagan Idolatry" Yol. III., p. 586.) It is not 
impossible that their descendants who became mighty in the countries they occupied 
left for other distant lands or shores. The resemblance of the characters on the 
Guyanian rocks leads to this conjecture. 

[Note.— A great deal has been written from time to time by different authors about the 
Gipsies. They are indeed a mysterious people. They are called also Bohemians, Zinuari, 
Gitana, &c, and wander over countries either as beggars or in pursuit of the lowest callings. 
Thev are, indeed, from their peculiar habits, the counterpart of the travelling Pariahs of 
India, from whom they are unmistakably descended. They are found in every part of the 
known woild, without ever fixing themselves anywhere, aud the question has often suggested 
itself to my mind, How came they to fiud themselves iu detached groups in the entire globe ? 
By what means did they get to these distant regions of the globe? Necessity, the mother 
of invention, possibly taught them the art, the method, of transportation from their native 
land to other distant lands and homes. The Tchandalas or Pariahs all possess the same 
habits, usages, customs of the Gipsies. I have sometime felt inclined to believe the Abori- 
gines of Guyana to be the real descendants of the Gipsy Pariahs, ©n account of their peculiar 
characteristics and ever wandering propensities.] 

8. The sun, moon, stars, planets, monkey, alligator, and other objects of idolatrous 
worship contained in the Hindu mythology and so common in India, are all more or 
f less traced on the rocks. The Hindu Durga or Kali is also represented as standing 
upon the shoulders of her husband Siva, in the inscription upon Bubumana rock. The 
Heart shaped Avocado pear or fruit among the Warraputa inscriptions is intended, I 
believe, to represent the " Punja-lingam" of the Hindus — the five imaginary forms 
under which this figure is worshipped in India, namely, earth, water, fire, wind, and 
etherial matter. The Lingam was the symbol of creating and producing power. 
The ''cosmical or Mundane Egg" which in India as well as in Egypt was considered 
sacred is evidently traced on the Marlissa rock, in the County of Berbice. It was the 
universal belief that the world was created from the Mundane Egg, originally the work 



B8 



of the Demiurgos, and Latched by the Spirit of God himself. This Egg, the emblem 
of the creation, was deified in India under the name of Brahmanda. According to 
Manu " the Eternal, desiring to create beings, by an act of thought (the Logos) pro- 
duced the moist principle, and deposited in it the generative principle. This primitive 
germ floated on the waters, and soon after the unformed matter condensed itself into 
an egg, brilliant as gold, and full of light. In this mysterious covering, Brahma, the 
father of all living beings, was born — an emanation of the first cause, the un-named 
God— He who is. Brahma lived within the egg, and the power thus confined within 
its prison remained inactive for a long period — a year of the Creator— at the end of 
which period the egg burst of itself. The upper half formed heaven, and the lower 
half, earth. The air in the midst, with the light regions and the waters above the 
earth. When Brahina had thus finished the work of creation, he was re-absorbed into 
the spirit of God — thus passing from a time of activity to a time of rest." In Central 
America, the serpent's egg has been an object of religious worship, and is associated 
by the Aboriginal natives with the destinies of their race. There is nothing surprising 
then to see the tracing of an egg on the rock at Marlissa Rapids. The Tau-Cross* so 
frequent among the Warraputa inscriptions was evidently very significant among the 
first migrators or settlers in that neighbourhood. It was a mark in use among many 
ancient nations, and not peculiar to the Jews and Christians. It is found among the 
Hindus, and placed it on the foreheads of their disciples. It was a symbol of salvation 
and consecration. This essentially a pagan emblem or symbol was afterwards intro- 
duced into the Christian Church. Mr. A. Winter, however, is inclined to adopt the 
theory of Hislop that the Cross is the Tau of Tammuz, representing a "shower 
of tears" "a weeping for Tammuz," whence probably the derivation of the Abori- 
ginal term Tamousie, for God, the great Spirit. — (EzeJc. 8, 15.) Among the 
Guyanian rock inscriptions there are evident traces also of the practice of offering 
human sacrifices, principally children, till put a stop to by the Incas or Ynkas, 
which prevailed to a great degree at Mexico, and even under the mild govern- 
ment of the Peruvians, and in most parts of North and South America. We read in 
the Bible that Mesha, the King of Moat, a sheepmaster, as he is called in 2 Kings 
iii. 4, uuable to prevail against the Edomites, " took his eldest son that should have 
reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt- offering upon the wall," v. 27. This 
ancient practice was observed also by Hacon, King of Norway, who offered his son 
in sacrifice to obtain of Odin the victory over his enemy Harold. Atjjste, King of 
Sweden, devoted to Odin the blood of his nine sons, to prevail on that god to prolong 
his life. This abominable practice was universal, and was observed by the aboriginal 
inhabitants of the American continent. Burcler, in his " Oriental Customs," observes : 
" The Peruvians of quality, and those too of mean sort, would sacrifice their first- 
born to redeem their own life, when the priest pronounced that they were 
mortally sick." In Robertson's " History of America" 1 we are informed, that 
the difficulty of training up an infant to maturity amidst the hardships of savage 
life, often stifles the voice of nature among the Americans [Natives, or Abori- 
gines] and suppresses the strong emotions of parental tenderness. Some of these 
women are stated in particular to destroy their female children in their infancy. 
" But," the historian adds, " though necessity compels the inhabitants of America thus 
to set bounds to the increase of their families, they are not deficient in affection and 
attachment to their offspring : they feel the power of this instinct in its full force." 
The Calabash-shaped-vessel among the CassiMtyn or Bubamana inscriptions, was the 
pdtra in which the warm blood which besmeared the altar, and the grim visage of the 

# The Tau-Cross (T) was used as an emblem of salvation or consecration by the ancient 
American Indians. The Aztecs, the Alongkins, and others knew the use and application 
of it, and under it they dedicated themselves to the worship of Quetzacoatl, their Saviour. 
There were degrees or orders in use among them which they called Waubeno ; Media ; and 
Jossakeed. Humboldt speaks of the Order of the Botuto, or Holy Trumpet, among the 
Orinoco Indians. Among the ancient Peruvians " Tanga-Tango" was the symbol of the 
" Alaumjah," the Triune God, " One in Three, and Three in One." The ancient Mexicans 



called their Triad Vitzliputzli, Tlaloc, and Tezcatlipoca. The Hermatic Cross ' ■ was 



found not only on the monuments of Egypt, the wedge-cut-bas-reliefs of Assyria, the rock 
caverns of India, but on the Cyclopean walls of Peru, as well as in the forest cities of 
Pre-Columbian America among the original inhabitants or Aborignes. The picture-writers 
on the rocks of Guyana evidently had some idea of the use and application of the " Cross 
letters or inscriptions" so frequently seen by the modern travellers. 



39 



idol, was probably received. See a faithful picture of this cruel nte given m Psaiin 
cvi., as practised by the people of Israel, who bad learned it from the Canaanites and 
for which they are upbraided by the pious Psalmist On a rock in Corentyne we haye 
evident traces of the figure of Shiva, or Siva with four arms, and holding a Trident in 
one arm. This god is represeuted in various ways. One of the names by which biva is 
known is Tvilochana, the three eyed one. One of the names of Jupiter was Trioculus, 
(Triophthalmas,) given him by the Greeks, because he had three eyes. An image of 
this kind was set up in Troy, which, beside the usual two eyes, had a third in 
the forehead. This very deity was an object of worship among the ancient picture 
writers, and they inscribed this figure on the rock evidently to perpetuate this tact 
for the information of future generations. The Hindu woman as often may be 
seen on the different sugar estates in the Colony, in the time ot grief, trouble or 
calamity will throw up both her arms over the head, or throw sand upon her head, 
expressive of that frenzy of passionate grief which the Eastern women on such occasions 
exhibit. This is also portrayed on one of the rocks of Guyana. 

9 The rocks of Guyana, especially those between Encaramada and Cayacara, on the 
banks of the Orinoco, appear to be literally covered with hieroglypic figures showing 
much that is common with the idolatries of the East. The planets the constellations, 
the signs of the zodiac, the stars in general, and in brief ' " all the host ot heaven 
which the ancient heathen nations, and the Hindus now still, worshipped and do wor- 
ship, and which heavenly bodies they believe have a great influence upon human events 
are all represented on these rocks. On the KaraJcanang mountains there are figures of 
"three bright stars— probably Planets, and in conjunction,— and over them a small 
spiral, and a Quipu of eight knots, alongside the figure of a human f oot ; and a further 
Quipu of four knots close to two small figures of symbolic meaning • all showing care- 
fully noted measurements." These inscribed rocks are indeed the chambers of imagery 
containing all kinds of heathen abominations. In the Bible it is said of Manasseh that 
"he worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them." Josiah, son of Manasseh, 
put down all that burnt incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the 
planets, and to all the host of heaven. By the prophet Jeremiah, God threatens, that 
the people shall bring out the bones of the King of Judah, of the princes, priests, pro. 
phets. and people ; and adds, " and they shall spread them before the sun, the moon, 
and all the host of heaven, whom they have served; they shall not be gathered nor be 
buried ; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth ;" and Stephen, m rehearsing 
the history of the children of Israel before the Jewish Council, declares, that God for- 
merly gave up their forefathers to worship the host of heaven ; and mentions among 
other obiects of worship the star of the God of Reraphan. Astronomical observa- 
tions also are noticeable among the inscriptions. All these are indications of a longing 
that the picture-writers felt for worship of any sort. " No one (says Mr. Brown m 
his "Canoe and Camp Lifer p. 96,) "that sees them can doubt for a moment that 
every sio- n las a meaning, or was made to serve some important purpose ot the sculptors. 
It may be that they point to a time when men of some extinct race had arrived at that 
stage of hu nan existence when mvsterious feelings of reverence for the seen and unseen 
find a place in their minds, filling them with longings for worship of any sort, and that 
to satisfy tiese cravings they set up their own idols in the form of rude carvings on 
rocks." 

10 I hav3 already stated in Section II. that the Hindus, (according to a writer in the 
" Asiatic Jcumair 1827,) were the most ancient mariners of the Indian Seas and car- 
ried on trades to distant countries and lands, and that they were constantly on the move 
from place to place, and from one country to another. Pliny speaks of vessels in Geylon 
being constructed with prows at either end of very large tonnage. Periplus says 
" rigged ships with masts and sails were required for Taprobane (Ceylon). ' F urchas 
informs us hat Arabian vessels were larger than the English, while the Persian ships 
and Indian Baghalas (with poops and round sterns, nailed together in a very rude and 
unsafe manner; their form being as old as Alexander,) from the first century 
down to the 16th century A D., were of still greater dimensions, some of them carrying 
from seven to fifteen hundred persons, and others 120 horses. All mediaeval travellers 
represent them as being of a very rude construction, having their planks stitched toge- 
ther with coir thread along the seams over a band of straw, and fixed to the ribs witn 
wooden pegs, while many had no decks. Such being the historic fact of the navigating 

G 



40 



powers of the ancient Hindus, would it be out of place for me to suggest that the Hindus 
found their way to America, and to the Guyanas, and left the fanciful and curious 
engravings and inscriptions as commemorative events of their life, religion, &c, &c. ? 

11. The clumsy sketches of large vessels with masts on the granite rocks at the 
Uha de Pedros in the Bio Negro, thought by Mr. Winter, Rev. W. H. Brett and others, 
to be commemorative of the first European vessel— barque or brigantine of Gonzalo 
Pizarro, and Orellano— which floated on the Amazons. The figures of men, thirteen 
in number, " appear in a row, as if dancing with joy at the sight of the ships, in happy 
ignorance of the consequences to their own race which would soon follow their arrival." 
This event seems to have taken place in A.D. 1540. In later period, A.D. 1746, how- 
ever, we are informed that one Bypersberg travelled very far up the Mazzaruni ; when 
he came to the sea of Parima, or Barima, the supposed El Dorado, he saw Indians of 
a fair complexion who wore clothes occupying the place already. In 1755 the Spaniards 
attempted to reach these Indians, but failed, owing to the opposition shown to them by 
the fair eomplexioned Indians' and other dangers. Four of the clothed Indians, how- 
ever, were taken prisoners, and were said to have been seen by many persons of veracity. 
The Governor of Esseqnebo, in 1756, sent thither to procure some of these people, but 
failed. The sketches of vessels in the Barima neighbourhood, while they might have 
been commemorative of the event just referred to, yet I venture to suggest, as some 
doubt has been expressed by the very persons whose names I have mentioned above in 
regard to this incident or event, that these sketches of vessels might have been made 
at an earlier period intending to show to future generations of Indians that the first or 
original settlershad come in large ships across the seas from distant lands, and because 
of their safe arrival some among them had kept up a dancing, &c. I may suggest also 
another important event probably intended by the rude sketch of these vessels. There are 
few partsof the world that have not some legenr) of the Deluge The Yarna Pana speaks 
of the building of a ship by which one man alone escaped. The Cheeoke Indians 
of America had a legend that all men perished in the flood. The Mexican Indians— 
the Royal race of Incas who claimed to be the descendants of the sun— had paintings 
representing a man and his wife in a boat. Perhaps these were the fair eomplexioned 
Indians found in the neighbourhood when Byjpersberg visited the spot. They no doubt 
cut these inscriptions or sketches of vessels on the rocks, commemorative of the flood, 
the vessel in stock as being erected, the vessel sailing on the waters, and then finding 
a resting place on top of the rock when the waters had abated. " In the days of the 
great waters their fathers sailed in canoes at that height"— -the height of the sculptures 
on the sides of the rocks which can only be reached by very high scaffolding. 

12. The rude hieroglyphics or picture-writings called in the Indian tongue " Temehri;' 
(which Mr.^ Winter rightly translates " writing," and which corresponds with the Tamil 
word Tumittal, a carving or cutting made by a knife or sharp instrument),* graven by 
man's device, when first made their signification was understood well enough by the 
immediate descendants of these picture writers and other passers by, though none now 
can explain them. This ignorance on the part of the present race of Indians is not to 
be wondered at. The towns and villages which the early settlers occupied being 
gradually taken possession of by ever-springing vegetation, and the dwellings or 
habitations falling into decay and ruin from want of attention, &c, they quitted the old 
but well-known spots to other portions of the land and thus all the durable traces of the 
more ancient Indian habitations were lost, and the very descendants became less and 
less interested in all those matters which pertained to their nationality. The present 
race of Indians never remain in one place or locality for any length of time. They are 
always on the move. 

13. A Hindu coolie Christian, Jacob Henry by name, wiio had lived among the Boks 
or Indians for several years, and who speaks one or two of their dialects, and worked 
with them on woodcutting establishments, gave me to understand that the Boks are 

* Whilst the word " Timehri" means "writing" it has, I believe, special reference to the 
picture-writings or drawings on the rocks, and hence " Timheri.rock," the pictmed-rock, on 
which the sun, moon, and stars are depicted, and all facing the East— the Sun. The word 

Tvm%ra _ (Sanskrit and Tamil) means dark, dismal ; and " Tirmr&ri," the sun. As applied 
by the Indians the term may signify the dark or dismal pictured rock facing the " sun" the 
object of religious worship. Compare also " Demerary" (the name of one of the rivers of 
British Guyana) with "Timira." and " iHmirari," whose waters are dark. The compound 
Tamil word " Timpr-aru' 'means the dark river. 



extremely fond of the Hindus, and are kind to them when they get acquainted. They 
look upon the Hindus as being very closely related to them. It appears there is a 
tradition among some of them to the effect that from Parima or Banma country, or 
fro m the Wapishiana country- vessels or ships can sail across to India and get back m 
a very short time, and that their forefathers came across the big sea from the great 
country where the coolies come from. A similar statement had been made to me by 
another Hindu coolie who had lived among them for a long time, and who had become 
one with them in habits, costume, &c. I simply mention this, as I heard it, and dotted 
it down in my Note Booh, and the reader is at liberty to form any opinion he likes. 
One thing however is certain : there is some kind of vague idea or notion prevalent 
among some of the Boks that their ancestors - the original inhabitants—were not 
indigenous to, or coeval with, the country or continent which they inhabited, but were 
strangers or foreigners who had found their way across the sea to the country and 
settled. 

14. In connection with the Rock Inscriptions, I may make some further remarks 
about the Shell-Mounds, with their human remains, &c, several heads ot stone-axes, 
or tomahawks, (most of them broken,) sharp-edged stone, which might have been used 
as a knife ; fragments of pottery, small plates of silver, with holes bored in them &c., 
which have been discovered in the interior of Guyana. These have been evidently 
formed by a race of people more barbarous than that which carved the hieroglyphics on 
the rocks. Some of these shell-mounds and barrows appear to be very ancient, others 
of more recent formation. Their construction must have occupied a long period but 
among the tribes now living, there is not found one able to give any account or inform- 
ation of them. The Indians scarcely have any legend or tradition concerning them. 
The remains or fragments of the various tribes of Indians as already stated are illus- 
trations of a history which can scarcely be written. These shell-moimds, {see beet. IV 
27 note,) were evidently the burial places of the Pou-Wisiana Indians, and others of 
whom no traces have yet been discovered. They are involved m deep mystery. I he 
different tribes have successively retreated into the heights of the mountains m the 
interior, and there is no possibility of getting access to them, or to their whereabouts ; 
and, even if we did, they are wholly, or in part, without tradition or history. How 
strikingly similar is this account with that we have given of the residents or occupants 
of the Neilqherry mountain region m the South of India. Into the heights of the hills 
or mountains, (onlv laid open a few years ago to the British inspection from the acci- 
dental discovery of their salubrious climate,) fragments of various tribes have succes- 
sively retreated, and still remain living illustrations of a history which can never be 
written The rounded knolls, into which the crest of the range is broken, are crowned 
with cairns, or barrows, whose resemblance to those in Europe mark them at once tor 
Druidical remains. Similar monuments of a more advanced order . . . have 
been discovered. . . . But by whom they were erected is a question still involved 
in the deepest mystery. They are the burial places of a race of whom no other traces 
have yet been discovered. They have been frequently opened on the Neilgherries, but 
none of the existing natives acknowledge either tradition or interest m connexion with 
them. They were found to contain ashes and fragments of pottery, with spear or arrow 
heads of iron. The pottery was glazed, which is an art unknown to the modern Hindu 
Kuyavan or potter. Bronze vessels also have been discovered, and in i one or two 
instances a bell of the same metal. The present occupiers of these hills (the Neilgher- 
ries) are the Todas or Todavars, a scanty people, and whose language belongs to the 
Dravidian family, but who in appearance are so dissimilar from other natives, that the 
first discoverers conjectured them to be the remains of a colony of Jews or Komaus. 
These Todas, like the Aborigines of the Guyanas as we see them and know them, arc 
without temples, idols, or priests. 

The reader will find a very interesting account given by the Rcvd. W. H. Brett of 
the ShelUmounds of Guyana in his " Indian Tribes;* p.p. 420—413. 



G£ 



4g 



Section yii. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS ABOUT THE RELIGIOUS STATE, Ac, OF 

THE INDIANS. 

1. Religion is a universal fact. It may be polytheistic ; but the religious craving of 
man tor all that is monotheistic. Just as a man cannot live without his felbw-men so 
can he neither live without God, the Supreme Architect and Ruler of the Universe 
And ' just as the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath," so also 
was religion solely and entirely intended or made for man; and this religious fpeling 
this attraction towards God, by whatsoever name He may be called by th.i nations of 
the earth, exists m every man. Says Plutarch—" You may see states, wi ,hout walls, 
without laws, without coins, without writing; but a people without a God, without 
prayer, without religious exercises and sacrifices, has no man seen." Again " There 
is no nation without a God, without a Supreme Ruler ; but some honour the gods in one 
way, some m another." In Cic. Be Legg. 1. 8 :-" Among so many kinds of creatures 
there is none besides man which has any knowledge of God; among men there is no 
people so wild and savage as not to know that they must have a God, even if they do 
not know what one. And Robespierre once said, " If there were no God, we should 
have to invent one. From these independent testimonies, (apart from written revela- 

X v * . S . 1 Holy . Wl11 — the Inspired Volume)— we safely conclude that the idea of, 
or belief in the existence of God is a universally acknowledged fact, and so also the 
religious duties men owe to him. True there may be a few— very few— individuals who 
deny all religion and God, just as they deny all human affection. These are only 
exceptions : and these very exceptions in this all important matter, as well as in all 
other instances prove the universal fact, " There is a God that judgeth in the earth," 
and rewardeth the righteous." Traditional history of mankind, however, furnishes 
us with notable instances of examples of degeneration in religion as well as in 
civilisation. ° 

m 2. The present race of Indians (the legitimate though greatly degenerated or dete- 
riorated representatives and offshoots of the original civilized races who poured in from 
Eastern and South-eastern Asia) inhabiting the Guyanas, in their naturally wild and 
untaught condition have no form of worship, no real or definite idea of any religion 
whatever. They regard the Great Spirit (Tamousie) as the Creator of all, and as 
iar as we could learn, they believe him to be immortal and invisible, omnipotent and 
omniscient, but know not what he is, nor in what manner or form to serve or please 
him. lhey evidently look upon the Great Spirit as a Being too high to notice them : 
and not knowing him as a God that heareth and answereth prayer, they concern them- 
selves but little about him. Hence, I presume, they have neither religious rites, nor 
sacrifices, nor offerings, nor festivals, (except the Casserie dances,) nor representations 
ot any (*od ; and hence also the difficulty of converting the Indians. Though such is 
the apparent fact, yet it would be unchristian and uncharitable on the part of any to 
suppose that the degraded heathen or pagan Indians of Guyana are altogether without 
some sense of religion according to the light of nature which they possess. The Todas 
or Todavars of the Neilgherry hills, to whom I have already made some reference in the 
previous section, m like manner are without any images or other religious rites and 
ceremonies ; and they can only doubtfully be said to have any idea of God at all. The 
Jiotas also, another race on these hills, exhibit some more distinct acts of worship; but 
they are m utter ignorance of the God* to whom the service is paid. 

3. Though the present race of Indians have no regular or settled form of worship, or 
any representation of the unseen Tamousie-GW Spirit-yet it is very evident that 
their ancestors were idolaters. The sun, moon, stars, planets, monkey, alligator, and 
other objects of idolatrous worship of the Hindu mythology traced on thl rocks of 
Guyana are instances of the fact. (See Section VL 3 7.) When in the year 1872 I spent 



43 



a few weeks in Barbados, I made enquiries of some of the oldest residents or natives 
there concerning the original or aboriginal proprietors of the Island, to wit, the Indiaas ; 
I was given to understand that originally a very large number of Indians inhabited the 
island, called the Caribs, but what became of them afterwards no one could tell. There 
are three caves in the island still called the Indians' caves or castles : one in St. Lucy's 
Parish, the second in St. Peter's, and the third in St. Michael's. One of these caves 
(in St. Peter's) is of some extent, and entirely protected by the overshelving rock against 
wind and rain. I was told that a large idol, the head of which alone weighed upwards 
of sixty pounds, was found in this cave : it stood upon an oval pedestal above three feet 
high. Several other idols of various shapes and sizes were also found in this and other 
caves of burnt clay, and other things such as hatchets, chisels, pipes, &c, &c. Foreign 
powers gaining possession of the island no doubt drove all the island Indians away to 
other parts of the West Indies, and they in their flight never cared or troubled them- 
selves to carry with them the objects of their religious worship. Thus, perhaps, the 
Indians in Guyana and other parts of Southern America set up a kind of sentimental 
religion without a due or settled form of worship, and without any representation as 
the object of their worship or devotion. 

4. The Indian "Piaiman" is a sort of doctor or conjuror, and is looked upon with 
dread and respect by the different tribes, something like an " obeahman" among the 
blacks. Covered with the skin of some animal of prey, or feathers of some bird of the 
same kind, with yellings and groans he performs his task. The sick man or woman is 
put into an enclosed hut with only one opening through which this doctor comes in, 
cutting himself till the blood runs out, and with hideous cries and gestures of all sorts 
he frightens the poor deluded patient, thereby thinking to drive away the malady. 
Strange to say, the Indians' belief is in evil spirits and demons to cure the sick. The 
" Piaiman" or devil priest, lives on the superstitious fears of the people. The Ceylon 
demonology, as well as that of the Shanars of Southern India, is a counterpart of the 
Guyanian Piaiman deviltry. The officiating priest, whoever he may happen to be, 
works himself up into a frenzy, uses medicated draughts, cuts and lacerates his flesh 
till the blood flows, lashes himself with a huge whip, presses a burning torch to his 
breast, drinks the blood which flows from his own wounds, &c, yells and groans, and 
frightens the beholders or spectators. He is the sorcerer, doctor, or conjuror, and is 
looked upon with dread and respect. Sorcery and witchcraft are commonly believed in 
by all the natives, particularly the Tamils. These sorcerers— usually doctors, astrolo- 
gers, &c. — are resorted to by men and women for all sorts of immoral purposes. 

5. A certain anonymous writer some years ago writing in one of the papers stated : — 
" An Indian is good at imitating ; like a monkey he will do what others do, and like a 
parrot say what others say ; he is also fond of novelty, and is easily led, it is therefore 
my opinion that Civilization and Christianity are embraced by an Indian on this ground ; 
the different forms and theatrical movements of the Church," the attire of the ministers, 
Baptism, Marriage, Holy Communion, all form a novelty and are attractive to him ; 
one tells another, and he comes ; and so on until they number by hundreds, but after a 
while they see nothing more new, the novelty wears off ; and ' Jaco' goes back to the 
interior. I have seen crowds baptised and commune, who, I am convinced, knew no 
more of the real nature of these rites than the man in the moon. And more, I believe 
that as new ministers arrive the same people are baptized over and over again. 
This is, indeed, a sad fact to be made known. The Indians will not easily be led 
to forsake their evil ways and propensities, abandon their superstitious practices and 
customs, and seek for the more excellent way." It is but the counterpart of what a 
Hindu coolie frequently does. The Hindu religion exercises a prodigious influence over 
the masses of the coolie immigrants. Blind adherence is paid to this abominable and 
soul ruining system. The coolies deem it as perilous to forsake their religion as tor a 
locomotive to quit the line. Whatever may be thought by others of the absurdity of 
the thing, they nevertheless sincerely believe in the divinity of a dumb idol, picture or 
saint. The evidence of their senses goes for nothing in the face of time honoured and 
hoary tradition. " How came it to spring out of the ground if it were not God ? 
Would their forefathers have worshipped it if it were a mere stone ? a mere picture ? 
Does it not avert danger, succour in trouble, remove diseases, send rain and fruitful 
seasons ? And how could it do these things if it were not God ? It appears like any 
other stone, any other picture— -padam, but it is only in appearance ; it is truly God I" 



44 



A Hindu Coolie in British Guyana as well as in India may be made to do what others 
do, and to say what others say. He will suit himself to circumstances and change his 
religious creed or profession and seek to be baptized same half a dozen times in the 
week or month, if he thought he could benefit temporally by so doing. Though I con- 
scientiously believe there are many sincere, true, and pious Christians to be found 
among the Aborigines and the Hindu coolie immigrants belonging to the different 
branches of the one Christian Church, yet several years' experience in the Mission work 
in the colony has taught me not to be too precipitate in publishing to the world the 
number of converts to Christianity from Heathenism. Dependence upon mere number 
of supposed converts is not always a conclusive or satisfactory evidence of success in 
Missionary or Evangelizing work among Hindu coolies or the Aborigines.* 

6. The best accounts, however, of Hinduism, or Heathenism, as practised or pro- 
fessed by the Hindu coolies and the Aborigines of British Guyana will be found not in 
the Puranic or other writings, but in the Bible. In the Bible" we have, in the words of 
the Holy Ghost himself, its origin and growth ; and such revelations of the fallen heart 
of man as every conscience verifies. This magnificent Colony — British Guyana— 
together with India and others in all zones, which have been denied to other nations 
once our rivals in the field, have now been given to England, the land of Howard, Clive. 
Carey, Heber, and J ohn Wesley, that she might achieve a glorious destiny by the spread 
of the English language, which has supplanted the Hebrew, {Isai. 28, ll,)f and English 
Christianity and influence, (the changed religion, &c, Hos. 2, 2 ; 4, 12 ; Jer. 3, 8,) and 
then give back these Colonies, as Christian Colonies to the Triune God. The Anglo- 
Saxons, or the English, as a nation or people, are peculiarly and highly favoured by 
God. They as a religious nation take a deep interest in the temporal and spiritual wel- 
fare of the Aborigines of their Colonies, though to their dismay they find them " dying 
out" before them, as the Boks or Aborigines of British Guyana. The only spreading 
and ever existing nations, as an exception to this fact, are the natives of the Indian and 
Chinese Empires. The English as a nation act as the universal missionaries or messen- 
gers of Christ's Gospel to all those and other families of the earth. Already their 
influence has been brought to bear upon the now existing aboriginal inhabitants and 
Hindu population in the West Indies and other parts of the American continent. 
Happy times are yet in store for these strangers ; and they still enjoy the full benefits 

* It is the custom of some people, who look with jealousy on Christian Missions, to take 
the Annual Reports of the different Societies, and calculate the amount of success from 
numerical data. But this is as fallacious as it is unjust. The individual who adopts this 
rule of judging shows either profound ignorance or deep malignity. It would be as rational 
to take up the returns of the Planter, and endeavour to show that, because his produce does 
not give, on the average, more than one hogshead of sugar to the acre, he has done nothing. 
But is it not something to have manufactured all the requisite implements of husbandry, to 
have cleared the land of its brushwood, &c, and to have proved, by actual experiment and 
numerous specimens, the depth and richness of the soil ? Those persons may not be aware of 
it, but their principles are identical with those of Simon Magus, who determined the value of 
the gift of God, and the worth of the soul, by a money standard. The number of converts 
from heathenism though may be small, yet it is a hopeful sign, and an encouragement to 
make still greater exertions for the conversion of the Indians. Mere number of converts is 
no just criterion of Misssionary success. 

f In a paper to hand per last mail, (Sept. 23, 5 81) I saw an interesting article on the univer- 
sality of the English language by Dr. Dorchester (a prominent Methodist of Boston) published 
in the Methodist Recorder of August 19, 1881. I extract the following from it to strengthen the 
statements I have made in Section V., and here :— " Dr. Dorchester showed how rapidly Pro- 
testant, and largely English-speaking peoples, were gaining control of the choice portions of 
the earth. He welt upon the number of those who spoke the English tongue, showing- con- 
clusively that Whittaker's estimate of 81,00 J. 000 is much too low ; for the census in the United 
States gives about 50,000,' 00, and in Great Britain 35,000,000, to which add all her Colonies, 
and we reach a sum total little, if any, below 95,000,000. Whittaker divides up the 81,000.000, 
whom he considers the number speaking the English language, as follows : Roman Catholics, 
13,500,000 ; Protestants, 59,000,000 ; and without any religion, 8,500.000. It is worth noting 
that while from 1850-70 the number of Roman Catholics in the United States increased almost 
3,000,000 they decreased between 1851-71 to the extent of 1 ,000,000 in the British Isles. The 
doctor touches upon another fact worth knowing while alluding to the Revision. When 
King James's Version was made there were but 5,000,000 of English-speaking people. To- 
day the Revision of 1881 goes forth to 95,000,000 of such people. But more, the Bible is now 
translated into 226 languages and dialects, and it is being largely translated into Pagan lan- 
guages out of the English tongue. English is supplanting French as the language of diplo- 
macy. China, by Imperial decree, has added 700 English words to her own language. He 
ventures the prediction that, by the close of another century, the English language would be 
spoken by 1,000,000,0000 of people. 



45 



of the Christian religion. Heathenism and other abominable systems of fraud and 
deception will become things of the past. This is already taking place. As I have 
already hinted before, the English language is providentially destined to bring the 
different scattered nations together, and become the medium of communication between 
the different nations of the earth. Not the poor old Pope's language— the Latin tongue, 
nor German, nor French, but the complicated English language, I venture to assert, 
is destined to be the one, the universal language of the world; and with the 
language the pure, unadulterated, Evangelical Christianity professed by the 
English nation. 

7 In pursuit of the origin or derivation of the Indian tribes occupying the American 
Continent, the Guyanas especially, I have with some fear and hesitancy on my part, 
and especially because I have never seen, nor met with, any work on this interesting 
subiect, attempted to put my ideas or impressions on paper for the information ot those 
(my fellow colonists and others) who are deeply interested in all matters pertaining 
to the welfare of the Colony and its inhabitants. I have not exhausted the subject : 
there are still many striking and telling facts which I have not touched. These 
I leave for scientific and learned men to bring to light, But on the whole, I may 
say, that independently of the analogy arising from the languages of the people, 
the close and striking resemblances, connexions, and peculiarities which, I have 
in the preceding sections rudely and imperfectly pointed out as existing between 
the two nations— the Indians of Guyana and the Hindu coolie immigrants from 
Asia— fully convince me of the great fact that the original population poured m 
from Eastern, Southern, and South-eastern Asia, (though from what parts and at 
what period cannot now be ascertained) rather than, according to the common 
theory, from its Northern Districts, by the channel of Behnng's Strait, and that the 
now existing degenerated, or deteriorated tribes are the descendants of the once highly 
or moderately civilized first migrators or settlers. In the language, therefore, (already 
quoted ) of one who had visited many lands, and observed the manners, customs, and 
habits of the different people, I mav say : * They, (the Aboriginal Indians,) resemble the 
Asiatics in more points than any people I ever saw; so much so that I really thought 
myself once more in Ceylon as I looked upon them here [British Guyana] and as I had 
seen them in their visits to town and the different [sugar] estates on which I had been.' 
{Se<j Dr Daltoris "History of British Guiana," in loco.) 

8 The very fact of the Hindus or Asiatics being introduced into the Colony in the 
shape of labourers or Coolies from the over populated zillahs or districts and suburbs of 
Hindustan is a proof to me that they come to a country or land which was originally 
populated or peopled by their ancestors or forefathers. They come to live among a 
people -though widely scattered and separated from each other m the interior— the 
Aboriginal Indians, who are " bone of their bone, and flesh of their flesh." They may 
appear strangers and foreigners to each other; but they are one people. There is a 
Divine Providence watching over the destinies of these two nations. They will yet be 
brought into closer connexion with each other, and then they shall know that they are 
ONE family I may state here that I have frequently met with coolies in the Colony, 
especially the Madrassees, who have adopted the habits, peculiarities, language, &c, of 
the Aborigines, and become one with them. They have readily supplied me with a 
<n-eat deal of information about the inner life, &c, of the Aborigines, though of course 
considerably exaggerated. The children or offspring of a Madras Indian coolie and a 
Bokeen are, generaUy speaking, very pretty, with a splendid figure and gait. In con- 
versation with these coolies who have taken to the Aboriginal Indian lite, I gather 
that there is scarcely much difference between themselves and the Aborigines, and that 
from the manner of life and habits pursued by the Lords of the Soil there is a great 
proof that they are descended from the people of Hindustan. 

9 I have only to add, as greater men have said before me, " If I have done well, 
and' what is fitting the story (or subject of this Pamphleti it is that which I desired ; 
but if slenderly and meanly, it is that which I could attain unto.' 2, Maccabees 
xv., 38. 



46 



ECTION YIII. 
THE HINDU COOLIES. 



1. To make this Pamphlet as far as possible complete and interesting, I shall now 
append a brief account of the Hindus who are introduced into the Colony of British 
Guyana m the shape of labourers or Coolies, and who are so nearly allied or related to 
the Aboriginal Indians as I hare attempted to prove in the preceding pages The 
following extracts or portions are from letters published many years ago in the 
Watchman > Wesleyan Methodist Weekly Newspaper, (England,) and the "Boyal 
Gazette, a tri-weekly paper, (City of Georgetown, Demerara,) &c. 

t> T h ^ re are f - ew p 0 ™*™ 8 or Colonies in the West Indies which can compete with 
British Guyana in the quality of the sugar that is annually made and sent to foreign 
market : but this is altogether owing to the fact that the planters are enabled from the 
conformation ot the colony to cultivate on a large scale, and therefore to afford the 
expense of machinery requisite for the production and manufacture of a refined quality 
ot sugar. _ In the West Indian Islands, on the contrary, where the cultivation is neces 
sanly limited m consequence of the difficulty aud expense of transportation, the planters 
cannot afford to use machinery capable of producing a high quality of suo-ar but 
must content themselves with using what is usually known in British Guyana a's the 
" common process." J 

3. In the face of much opposition and obloquy the different planters as a body 
united, with the assistance and sanction of the Government, to introduce immigrants 
from India and China into the colony to supply the deficiency of labour, arising prin 
cipally from the indolence and indisposition to work of the labouring Creole or black 
population. It would scarcely be credited in England and elsewhere by those unac 
quamted with a colony such as Guyana, the little exertion required by a labouring man 
to earn sufficient to maintain himself and his family, if any. * Two or three days ? work 
during a week is all that is necessary to supply his physical wants, and he troubles 
himselt about little else. He has no ambition to raise himself in the social scale and 
if at times he does exert himself a little, it is only for the purpose of earnino- a little 
money to deck himself in broadcloth, gaudy-coloured necktie, and patent leather boots 
wherewith to strut about to his own manifest satisfaction and pleasure, and the adraira' 
tion of his female friends and the envy of his less fortunate brethren. But this spirit is 
of short duration. His garments become seedy, the colour of his necktie gets faded 
and the lustre of his patent leather boots, on which he prided himself so much, becomes 
dim, and he relapses into his usual habirs of indolence, in all probability never more to 
exert himself beyond what is necessary to supply his daily wants, which after all are 
but few With a labouring population, therefore, actuated solely by such considera- 
tions, and stimulated by no motives of a higher order than the bare supply of their 
physical wants, it is difficult for the employers of labour to maintain steady and conti- 
nuous work. I do not, however, wish to make a sweeping assertion in stating that the 
labouring Creole population do not work. Many of them do, but not on the su^ar 
estates. As the result of their labour they have lands and houses of their own, as well 
as work carts of their own. Some are jobbers and porters in towns, and others are 
domestics. Many are withdrawn from field labour by other circumstauces, and earn as 
much by a few hours' toil each day as will supply their present wants, and also lay by 
something for a rainy day, without the regular svstematic course of a day's entire con- 
secration to estate work. Some still labour on sugar plantations and receive regular 
wages, either for piece work or per diem. But the great majority lead an indolent life 
and won t work at all. And if left to them the sugar properties will go to nought, and 
the whole colony become a wilderness where briars and thorns would strive for the 
mastery. In every direction the complaint meets us, " The native labourers will not 
angage m steady, continuous,, systematic toil ; and sugar being the staple commodity 



47 



upon which all departments in the Colony depend for life, some other measures must 
inevitably be resorted to." Hence it is that the employers of labour are obliged to bid 
nigh tor the service of the foreign labourer, or else lose aU the fruits of previous exertion 
and expenditure; and hence it is that immigrants are imported by thousands into 
British Guyana and other West Indian Colonies who are nevertheless found in the bar. 
bansm m which they came from the East. 

4 The importation of foreign labour into the West India Islands, as well as in 
Hritish Guyana, is a standing reproach to the labouring Creole populations. I ask, 
is it consistent with common-sense that the planters of the Colony would go to so great 
an expense as they do annually to obtain labour unless they were absolutely forced in 
selttoce into the adoption of such a system ? Will any intelligent person suppose 
that the leading inhabitants of the Colony, who are as keen men of business as are to be 
tounct m any part, ot the world, would tolerate, except under circumstances of great 
urgency, the abstraction of a large sum annually from the general revenue of the Colony 
as a contribution towards the expense of importing such labour. These questions can 
be answered m no other form than in the negative. There is an absolute necessity on 
the part ol the planters and the Colony to import the natives of other countries to do the 
work required And what are these so-imported Chinese and Indian Coolies doing in 
the Colony r> # It cannot be said that they are taking the bread out of the mouths of the 
Creole labouring population, for they do not care to eat it. It cannot be said that they 
are lowering the price of labour, for the Creoles will not work. The Indian and 
Chinese Coolies, I regret to say, look down as it were from a superior height upon the 
black Creoles, and entertain for them as a race a feeling of profound contempt, At the 
end ot their period of service, the Indian Coolies return with free passages to their 
native country, taking with them on their persons sums of money and trinkets of value, 
having also made large extra deposits with the authorities in the Colony, payable on 
arrival at their destination. A member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Edward 
Johnson by name, who was a Coolie driver on plantation Lusignan, and who left the 
Colony with his wife and children early in October, 1878, took with him something like 
two thousand dollars m cash, besides trinkets of value. Several others have done the 
same * Now the Creole labourers might have all this money which is so carried away, 
if they only chose to earn it ; they might if they chose successfully defy all competition 
that could possibly be brought against them. They will not, however, give themselves 
to steady, continuous, systematic toil or work. Sufficient for the day is the provision 
tor their lives— to-morrow may well be left to take care of itself. 

tt5i W t G h i aV L iu th v ^W.Coolies from all parts of India-from Madras, Bangalore, 
Hyderabad Massulipatam Mysore, Pondichery, Cuddalore, Tinnevelly, Trichinopoly 

CaWt* ^ Ura ' ^}\ h t n T 7 el }° re > Ceylon, Bombay, Jaggarnauth 

Calcutta, Benares, Allahabad, Lucknow, Cawnpore, Delhi, Nepaul, Lahore, Cabul, 
K.achmeer, Kumaon, and many other places. To be more graphic we have in British 
Guyana the agricultural race, called Gajurs, from the northwest frontier of India, the 
^anjab, or country of the five waters; the Dunjas and the Bheels from the north, 
eastern part of Gujurat, or rather from the jungles and hilly district of Malwa; the 
Goolies and Koles who inhabit the peninsula of Gujurat; the Khatties from the 
peninsula which has taken the name of Khattywar; the Hindus, who are in general 
Portioned, and of a martial disposition; the Bengalies from Bengal; 
the Khauds and Sauris from Orissa, which receives its name from Oriyos or Odros, 
a branch of the Hindu immigration; the Ghonds from Gondwana, which lies to the 
wi li c ? °f 1SSa ' and Wnich stretches f rom Cuttock throughout the Berar 
TpLI 1 ! 7 gai " ^ rn t rj; t"®?" 8 ** 8 from the Presidency of Bombay! the Gentoos or 
ielmgas, from Southern India; the Canarese, the Mussalmans, the Malabars, the 

abL^n™°° if - are wide awa] f to their own interests ; they labour hard and earn money in 
afC thrv'hni a » re f^l st - ak - e t° SUppose that Coolies only begin to save their money 
years 0 f tLfef m *h^i heir S T e of 1 them Ea ™ ^ngh to buy one or two 

o f thP ^ rwfiil ^ ey k r°- w if etty well how t0 make mo and save it It ^ 

Produce f the «™ £3£ debt ' but ? is ? leir own fault ' Indolence and strong drink 

without R iVpSn c ™ m Demerara as elsewhere. But the sober and industrious, almost 
takPn LX £1 \ °?' aVG ™° Uey or . acquire P ro P er ty. It has been said that the large amount 
mfsH?^iS5 r et «rmng immigrants proves little, as it is principally made by shop-keeping. 
llus statement betrays great ignorance or thoughtlessness. 



48 

Todos. the Kotas. the Koonnees, the Warras, and a host of others, according to their 
different castes or 'tribes and ranks, have found their way to British Guyana as labourers 
to work on the sugar estates * 

6. The Coolies. I repeat, are introduced to displace no one, but merely to fill a blank 
in the civil and' social condition of the country. They are introduced from the over 
populated ziUo.hs (districts and suburbs of India into the port of Georgetown at no ex. 
pense whatever to themselves. In fact, it is merely removing British subjects from one 
portion of her Majesty's dominions to another, which is infinitely more advantageous and 
brighter, where thev are alwavs sare of regular work with fair wages. They find work 
to do. almost immediately after thev land. It is true they are indentured to the estates 
for a period of five vear's. during which time they are supposed to do what is required 
of them: but this is done, in order that the parties who have suffered the expenses ot 
importing them mav be guaranteed from loss. This method of indenturing the Coolies 
to the estates has both its advantages and disadvantages. A young man, for instance, 
who leaves his native home. England.^ and comes out to Demerara to be employed as 
clerk or warehouseman, in the Colonial or British Guyana Bank or m any ot the 
stores in Water.street. receives all his travelling expenses, and is indentured to do the 
required work for a certain period of time. The clerk, if he did not give satisiaction 
to his emplover or employers, mav be discharged at a moment s notice, and leit to 
roam about ks he pleas'es. But not so with the Coolie immigrants imported They 
get all their travelling expenses paid. They are indentured to the estates to 
do a certain amount of work required of them, and if any among them be found 
inefficient, disabled, lame, or otherwise, though he becomes a burden to the plan- 
ter and to the Colonv. he' must still be retained on the estate, or sent to the almshouse 
and properlv cared for. or sent back to his native country. + Tne law also makes 
provision for the free return of the Coolies after they have completed the fall term of 
ten vears' industrial residence in the Colony. Of the disadvantages ot this kind of 
indentureship I may briefly notice here, that some of the planters who a r e cruel indeed, 

* The Hindu "Kulies" are a class of peoplBwho occupy the ™^ e ™f™f>™^£J^_ 
Bhills. as tar as Bombav. and even farther. They, (a few only excepted ^) enjoy no "jdepen^ 
dene-- in their own country, but are a robust, hardy race, often livmgby f ™ 

Arabs do. vet faithful when Mred as emdes or convoys ^ence porter^mofayra) andotter 
labourers in Hindustan are commonly called " Kuhes" ^^ff^ 

Hie notralation alon*- the Xorth-Western frontier, while tne Ramuses, anottier «ass or 
liborlrer^^ Western Ghats, south of the KnMes and even partly over 

thetYbleW oftheDeckhan as far as Bhijpur ; these latter are more advanced melton 
and are nartlv a-riculturists. The word Kulie .'or as it is more commonly but mcorrectlv 
bitten £55 .ITter^Unging to the.Tamfl language ^^^i^^ 

Sft S tlifXnv^ 

Tamaira to Grenada to Tiinidad. and also come in large numbers to tne port or 

wSlit cinzatn, adjacent, Will afford with a like arranp^t a lar^^pply^ 
word Coolie/' 

+ The law which secures to the immigrant work .and wages when weUU^ ^"^^ 
when <=ick and freedom f om crueltv at all times, is no dead letter. Indeed, so weupro- 
Sted is tt tSS immigrant, "that it is far better for a hasty tempered ma na ge^to 
horsewhip his Enghsh or Scotch overseer than to lay a heavy nand °nj B ^^*S 
gang, no matter how insolent he maybe. If an exceptional man ot .a ,hard spirit ^ P e f ™ 
the numbers who treat their people kindly and well, beyond what bare justice require*, win 
far more than counterbalance this. 



49 



from m1!?T , may 5° i the a ?7 anta ^s derived by the importation of labourers or coolies 

mmmmm 



PART I. 



without regard to the district or provinces Tom which th„J L t f mg a PP ortlon ^ 
care and attention were paid to J^^^d^^fe^^ some little 
according to their districts e „ r1,,„„i classifying tnem into bands or companies 
Carnatict &c, and if Ls much J'ioiiA?^' °f 6 ' ^ gP ? re ' 0rissa ' Clrcars . 
to one or more adjoining Zls tZtttlllCX J ^ w / re a PP OTti <™<l 

them, but they would not feel themselves sc ,lttlLT««f y " t™ 4 ° f ™™ araon ^ 
make them long to be bact aJ, f • J / f ?°, m bome associations, as to 

They might thfs form for CeCtaet'^f ««ghbonrs of their childhood. 

ferences of lang/age Jt^S^^^J^^^}"^ 1 yet there are d!f " 
which make it difficult for them to £R,tL "bgmus and social habits, 
by the natives of each district hl\T» Z lv a ' lt , these peculiarities be humoured, 
teW to bind them to us andto the sofl J ° Thev wilFnottf T,^ 6 together ' !t W 
strange land," wliich must be felt wn»„ 7 • not , th< ?? feel lhat "strangeness ink 
likewise W^^^S&H^ffiJSg^rt % would 
for them as circumstances will admit W„ w T • ? 7 , g ,,. lr lot as comfortable 
we wish to conciliate him- Tnd l^v^iS^^^ffi' * 
enlightenment between the employer and employee vet f XI * standing, or 

upon which each could stand, it would tend to cJncaSt fbt v ^ a . common S ro ™ d 
ought to be the first to come'forwaTto invite co^opera^n e!^lf^ '> ^ 
good is to be gained by both parties. co-operation, especially if some ultimate 

his\^^^ 

nothing can overcome. ' The Hindu Coolie ^n like mlnner ° f h ?- land > which 

a foreign land, and anxiously looks forward to the S ll Upon as an exile m 

return to his country-his father and nSher land Mv w WOUld be n a position to 

I must however say, leaves no doubt ou my mind thif il^ ^course with the Coolies, 
their wordly prospects, but benefitted them^omlly also lmmigratlon has *ot only bettered 

tro 



50 



would command more respect , and exercise more authority and influence over the Coolies, 
than is found to be the case in the present system. It would be a system more in 
accordance with what the Coolie has been accustomed to at home. The system is this : 
— if a gang of men be required for a certain work, the employer gets hold of the 
makaddam, or headman, with whom all arrangements are made, and who is responsible 
for his men, — the headman employs and arranges with the subordinates, and supplies 
them according to the nature of the work required ; and in most cases also receives and 
pays the wages agreed upon. This, I believe, is the Ceylon system of employing labourers 
on'coffee and sugar plantations. The headman is not arbitrarily placed above the labourers 
by the employer, but is a man of standing and character amongst tbem, and is treated 
as such : they feel bound to show him respect, and seldom will they fail in obedience 
to him. either in the matter of turning out to work, or in the settling of any dispute. 
He is their spokesman and preserves the balance between employer and employee. If a 
good makaddam be procured, he will keep his men together, and if fair inducement be 
held out to him. he will retain on the estate those who have been accustomed to work 
under him, after their term of indenture is out. In the present system a driver is 
chosen by the arbitrary will of the employer or manager, without any regard to the 
feelings or choice of the labourers. This "is the case also with the task gang Coolies 
working in the city of Georgetown. He is put over a gang of Coolies who have no 
respect for him, and a stubborn and unwilling obedience is rendered to him, because 
they see there is no help for them — they yield themselves to their fate. The driver is 
not'bound to the labourer by any ties which a Hindu considers sacred or honourable, and 
the consequence often is. continued disputes, at times amounting to mutiny. When a 
Coolie has worked out his term of indenture, if his driver be a man with whom he has 
got on badly, he either endeavours to remove to another estate, or if he have accumu- 
lated a little* money, he seeks to return to his own country, thoroughly dissatisfied with 
the Colony, and ready to disparage it when he returns to his own land and people. 

(3.) Another important alteration or amendment must be in the marriage laws of the 
immigrants. In the first place, in the selection of Coolies in India, as many young 
unmarried men as possible should be chosen. If married men wish to engage them- 
selves, they should be induced to bring their wives Tvith them. Those wishing to marry 
after their arrival here, should, in addition to the existing requirements of the law as 
regards the registration of marriages, be required to produce evidence that they have 
also gone through the requirements of Hindu or Mussulman laws according to their 
caste, or if Christians, according to the practice and the forms of the Christians. _ The 
Indian immigrant must be made to feel and know that all marriages contracted in the 
Colony are as binding as those performed in his own country. The present law is 
not considered in this light by them, but looked upon only as a matter of convenience, 
to be thrown aside whenever it becomes irksome. 

(4.) The next subject I shall touch upon has to do, not so much directly with the 
Coolie as with the Europeans who come immediately in contact with the Coolie, viz., 
the manager and overseers of Estates. It would be a vast advantage both to these 
Europeans and the Coolies were the former able to communicate with the latter in their 
own language. Were every overseer, witMn a twelvemonth of his first appointment to 
the office, required to pass an examination in colloquial Hindustani or Tamil, he would 
finl all his future career much moiv satisfactory. If, as suggested before, natives 
from but one district were appropriated to one estate, there would not be such a Babel 
of languages and dialects as at present exists on every estate ; and there but one lan- 
guage would be spoken or understood by all the Coolies ; the overseer then on his being 
appointed to a certain estate, would be required to give his attention to but one of the 
Indian languages, e.g., if there were only Bengalese on the estate, his study would be 
directed to the acquiring of the Bengali colloquial : if Hindus, of Hindui ; if Carnatic, 
Telugu or Tamil. A board of two or three examiners meeting for a week every six 
months, say at Georgetown, would be sufficient to conduct such examinations, and grant 
certificates of competency to successful candidates. Four or five months' study, for 
about an hour each day would, for the most ordinary capacity, be sufficient to acquire 
enough of the vernacular colloquials, for the purposes of communicating intelligibly 
with the East Indian Coolies. The advantage of this plan would be to bring the Over- 
seer and Coolie into closer contact— one would understand the other more perfectly, 
and many causes of dissatisfaction and disagreement would be avoided, which now often 
occur simply from the intervention of an interpreter, or the use of the English language. 



51 



which a Coolie can so imperfectly pick up, and with such difficulty express his wants in. 
It seems strange that the ignorant, uneducated Coolie should be required to learn a 
foreign language, and that the educated European should save himself a little trouble 
to acquire the language of the people with whom he has so much to do * 

. if") J° re * urn *° * he _ P ool ! 7 e ; Some well directed measures ought to be taken in reqard 
to the education of Coolie children. When I say education, I mean teaching them to 
read, write and cipher. The question now arises, how is this to be done ? It fs evident 

fw VCP, + i f y ° U Can ™ alt °2 ether eradicate th <^ knowledge and acquaintance with 
their mother-tongue There are very few instances, I believe, where a Coolie child 
ft^/ tlie. Estates' English schools, has continued there a suffi^nt 
length of time, to acquire, what may be called a respectable knowledge of our language 
le°tter J7* e h T ^ ^ ^ te ^ en % a simple story-book, or compose an oXfry 
Wo. 5 llir P f a W ed a s ™ tte ™S of E ^h, very little superior to the 
jargon which any Coolie child can pickup without attending school, he thinks his 
English education is completed, so far, at least, as to answer all the purposes for which 
he will ever require the language ; he then leaves school, and all the pains and expense 
of teaching him-even what little he knows-is little better than throW away To X 
field he must go as soon almost as he can earn a sixpence-books are laid aside, and 
never after touched, from the fact that even the simple act of reading is too laborious 
uninteresting, and useless to him, as there has not vet been awakened in his mind l a 

tZL\°C r l J r h 1 k r W l 6d f °l thC la , ngUa » e ' Whis never havi ^ ^en interested 
Q w\ £ h fi ^ at . sch ° o1 -. 1 would suggest the plan recommended in India to 
make the English study interesting to the Immigrant Coolie children in the Colony : ~ 

(a.) In the lower classes, where the learning of the language is mainly done and when thev 

fe^V^f TOIWr + attentl ?a. i8 f\ V f n **' ^ far the hardest work in t^ school men X can 
hardly speak a sentence without blunder are -appointed to guide the shootin- nro^sTS the 

t^lnllfsii tha^Je^^S W J?T 1 ^ ^blefo^cfofSe d -fee! 

S£f ■ Ki ?f 1 . lsl1 that °" e meets with— that anybody and anything will do for the readin . Wnn 
When it is remembered that this reading lesson is almost thf only medium o ^ insSuc ion to 
the lower classes, that the elements of the language are invariably taught in it i tin be seen 
that this bra ch of public instruction must rest upon a very imperfect foundat oT when th£ 
very important lesson is m the hands of such teachers as I have described [ In m^Tnv cases t 
true it cannot be helped Good English teachers are not very plentiful but I^m perSed 
that things mighi b e >etter thau they are, if the best English h/every sch^^u?htto 



bear on the reading lesson. 

(h.) 
reader 



(6.) The advantage of confining teachers to subjects instead of classes will be evident to the 
i 1, \ ,T l nter f\^ a11 in the instruction of the youths of the colony If the 
CtZ ^ht S \ em ° St command of English be made -available, as far aTpossible 

tor the reading lessons of every class, an improvement would soon be observable in t> ?« 
English teaching throughout the school. In the numerous small country Schools ^ where there 
are only one or two masters and all deficient in English, no improvement can 7e expected untU 
teacleS P ° 18 t0 ^ matter in thG » m P^eut of duly quaHfied 5?£Si£d 

(c.) A very great deal depends on the selection of the reading book. It has been a bother to 
many a master to know what would be most appropriate for the purpose and the same 
question has caused nor a little con em to Universities and ereat *it»n»$™ a 'i • 5 a 
readmg book should contain the best sj^^Wt^^^^^S^ tolhe be£ 
authors for the higher classes For the lower classes, where the laborious ZrkoTLcanhh^ 
the elements oi the art oi reading English is mostly carried on, the great thing to be aX at 
is simplicity and sufficient variety and interest to keep the attention of the child awat? 

FntiUV 8 a - Pr6tt ? W ,% U reco S nised f act in India as well as in British Guyana that all the 

neonle Cri^f 0 ^ % far + M - P0S > ible ' be ada P ted to the » at ^al circfm stances^ f the 
people. Native boys cannot enter into the modes of thought of English bo vs neither ran 

croL th? P " Cted t0 U " deista « d ^e illustrations from, and allusions^ ffish li* Twhich 
crowd the pages of reading books prepared for the use of Eno-1 sh children An Fnll 

literature has been extensive, would find little difficulty. B ut unfortunately thf majority of 

«^ Sl ^7 er °^ my vi T T S man 7 y ^ rs ag0 when 1 first came to the Colony. I have however 
sine, discovered, as. I have already stated, that there is a great earnest desire rSn the Ctrf 
it is hette'r Z^Tn* *>*™ l <*8° of the E ^ish to be able to converse in i? AnTinde^d 
wW ttSf i, ? 0l1 ^ t0 be encoura ^ ed to express themselves even it, broken 'Zlish 

a tfme teniae tbS.i TLej 5 ref f ^ P?*^ ^ im P orted Cooli ^ And SffiXr 

-mehow or other when they 



52 



our schools are in the hands of a different class of people who cannot understand the book 

themselves and of course cannot make it plain to others. A short time ago, when the Educa- 
tional question was discussed, the Honourable William Russell drew the atteution of the 
members of the Court of Policy, and others who are interested in the education of the rising 
veneration of the Colony, to the great want of suitable reading books adapted to the wants 
and natural circumstances of the n tive children, but up to the present time no step has been 
taken in this direction. At least I do not think it has. 

(e ) An adaptation of this kind in the reading boek is especially necessary in the lower classes 
where this important work is too frequently given into inferior hands. Either the text should 
be adapted to the capacity of the native boy, or there should be notes which would explain 
passages that would come easy to an English boy, but would be a matter of extreme difficulty 
for him. 

(f ) In English schools it is a recognised necessity that the reader should be well illustrated 
with pictures. Here the necessity is greater still. A picture is frequently better for purposes 
of explanation than whole pa-es of "notes." It has often struck me as strange that the 
Cove nment and Educational Societies have not made a greater use of pictures m their teach- 
in°\ In these days, when verv good picture > for children are so easily obtained, every school- 
room in the Colony ought to have these silent teachers adorning its walls or ready to bring 
forwa' d when needed. It is wonderful how much of good English is taught-or rather how 
English teaching might be helped -by good English pictures. • 

(a.) The pictures will, of course, help to make the reader interesting, but a great deal more 
depends on the text. Here we look for a variety of interesting matter which, while ic proves 
instructive shall also prove of interest sufficient to fasten the attention of the child. There is 
a dan-er, however, lest the reading lesson should be made to do duty for all kinds of other 
lessons and not be a reading lesson at all in so far as teaching to read is concerned. The man- 
ner of reading is put aside as a verj unimportant affair wben compared with a knowledge of 
the facts contained in the lesson. And it is because so little attention is paid to the manner 
in teaching to r ad that the understanding of the lesson becomes so hard, and the boy is driven 
to a recitation of fra ments of sentences from it, in answer to the teacher's questions, and the 
whole thing is degraded into a bad memory lesson and is not a reading lesson at all in the 
proper sense of the word. 

(h.) I firmly believe that the great evil which is the curse of our educational institutions in 
the Colony and elsewhere - cramming— is due in very great measure to this system of making 
the reading lesson anything and everything but a reading lesson; where the children are 
tausrht to cram bur not to read. Mechanical reading there i- a p emy of it. The child knows 
that certain letters represent certain sounds. He knows or his teacher tells him, how these 
letters should be sounded in combination, and he knows too that there are some ridiculous 
English words where the letters do not represent anything at all, or if anything, something 
ver-y different from what might be expected. If he can get over these difficulties and pronounce 
the" words tolerably he has accomplished the whole duty of the schoo -boy in regard to the 
reading of the lesson, and the teacher flatters himself that he has done his part as far as teaching 
the arTof reading is concernei. Then the teacher add es^es himself to w. at is often regarded 
as the main business of the lesson. The boys shut their books and he proceeds to ask them 
questions on what thev have been reading in the very words of the lesson, maki gthe inter- 
rogative tone serve to indicate that he asks a question, without any regard to the arrangement 
of "the words. The boys thus have the answers suggested to them ami they supply the neces- 
sary word 5 from memory, and the reading lesson is finished. 

(i'.l In such a system as that there is no place whatever for the development of the thinking 
powers. The memory is exercised enough, but the faculties of thought rarely, if ever. When 
a boy who has been taught to read according to such a system passes on to the upper classes 
and to more advanced studies, he finds that he has to spend a great part of the time which 
ought to be spent in acquiring new branches of knowledge, in unlearning what he has learnt 
ia lower classes and in i ferior schools. And as his unlearning is of all branches of education 
that w ; ich goes most against the grain, it is seldom if ever thoroughly accomplished, and the 
boy c .ntinue .- his mechanical grind to the end of the chapter. 

(j.) The remedy lies very much in teachiug the child how to read intelligently and in giving 
him such rea ing as will compel him to think. The readin? lesson should be used for this 
purpose and not made a cramming lesson. It should be so taught as to make the reading itself 
a. test of t e boy's understanding. If the hoys learn to read badly, it may naturady be ex- 
pected t a at the entire rant e of English studies will be badly done. But teach the lower classes 
to read well and you will soon see an increase of intelligence brought to bear on all the work 
of the -chool. It'may be objected that this does not apply to reading aloud, that knowledge 
for i he most part is conveyed by silent reading and study. The answer to that objection is 
obvious. In p.inciple they' are the same. The man who cannot read well aloud, ennnot read 
well to himself. Reading aloud is but the expression of that silent, inner reading which must 
always precede it. It is the outward sign of the inward power of understanding the thoughts 
which others have expressed in words. 



58 



(k.) It is foi these reasons that I would urge on all connected with English-teaching schools, 
that greater importance should be attached to the reading lesson. Festus says : " Manner is 
a great matter. And the manner of reading deserves very much more attention than it 
receives in our schools It becomes a matter of the very highest importance when we consider 
what scope for the cultivation of thought is in the hands of the teacher when he sits down to 
teach a child how to read And this cultivation of thought is the one thing above all others 
which our natr. e boys need to be taught. The late Dr. A. Duff's step in L alcutta Presidency 
had greater influence in leading the Indian Government to adopt English as the instrument of 
the higher education m India. The English school system has been as fruitful in producing 
native Ministers as other a encies. The Scotch Chnrch Missionaries and others have devoted 
themselves exclusively to English education in India. 

«. (Z "k Sh £ u i d ' , h ? w ® v ? r > simultaneously with the English, or even, I would sav, before ever 
the English alphabet were taught the Coolie child, he were instructed in his own vernacular, 
and were able to read intelligibly a simple book in his own tongue, so as to understand ai.d be 
interested m it, then a desire would be created in his mind to know and learn more • takin<* 
him up, then, at this point of his mental career, and imparting to him a knowledge of the 
English language, he would not only learn the quicker, from the fact of his mind having 
already been trained to learn from books ; but from the interest which has been awakened, from 
his having derived pleasure m the reading of books in his own language, he will be inclined to 
persevere with his English studies, and keep on improving- his mind after he has left school. 
We might then have a class of Coolies from the rising generation, considerably elevated • bove 
the present immigrant Coolie, with many of his idolatrous prejudices, if not eradicated, at 
least very much smoothed down and weakened. Is it then too much to hope that these would 
feel an attachment to the soil, and would become permanently settled on it ? If this should 
be the case, what a fair field does it present to those who have at heart, not only the intellec- 
tual elevation and improvement of our working population but their moral and spiritual 
enlightenment and good ?* 



(6.) To accomplish this, at first, as each Immigrant ship is receiving her complement 
of Coolies, let care be taken that one or more schoolmasters be added to the number- 
men who have a knowledge of their own language as well as of English. These 
men may be made useful as Interpreters on the voyage, and on their arrival in 
the Colony may be allotted to such Estates as may desire their services as Coolie 
schoolmasters, and as teachers of the vernacular to such Europeans on the Estates 
as wish to acquire the language. I apprehend there would not be much difficulty 
in procuring such men in India, for Education in that country is not only rapidly 
extending, but has already spread to a considerable extent ; and it is in a great 
measure communicated in English and the Yernacular simultaneously. After a time 
some of those who have been thus educated in the coolie schools of British Guyana 
can take their places as coolie school teachers whenever a vacancy occurs, and 
the supply from India might be discontinued. Here would be inducement to 
Coolie children to avail themselves of the advantages offered them in the way 
of education, by opening up to them, if industrious and steady, opportunities of 
raising themselves above the condition of mere labourers. A class of men raised 
by such means as those proposed, would contain some examples of men, superior 



* In the year 1866 several letters on "The Indian Coolie Immigrants" appeared in the 
Watchman, in which their habits, customs, character, &c, were impartially depicted, and 
therefore it will be unnecessary for me to go over the same old ground again. The habits of 
the Hindu or Indian immigrants in the colony are very unlike those of the same class in India. 
Many of the men adopt the European style of dress, the women wear petticoats, and all learn 
the Creole patois or corrupted English, and seem fou ler of talking it than their own beautiful 
and poetic language, the Tamil. In visiting I have come upon some Indian families where the 
children could not speak their native languages, but only Creole. There is a restlessness and 
love of change about the people which is seldom found among the same class in India. There are 
no caste prejudices to overcome, and from this fact alone I firmly believe that if we had more 
missionaries, or catechists, we could do, or rather God would do by us, great things. The 
Chinese Coolies are larger and stronger in person than the Hindus ; they are also energetic 
and ingenious. But they are guilty of bare-faced larcenies, occupying the greater portion 
of the time of the magistrates— wholesale perjury, till their oaths are justly regarded as a 
farce— the establishment of hideous gambling and opium dens, in the midst of our towns 
and estates, which are a pest to the neighbourhood, and of still more hideous joss houses, with 
their unholy rites, which are a blight, a stain, and an eternal disgrace to the Christian land in 
which they live— horrible murders among; themselves, which are scrupulously screened from 
justice, and a host of other flagitious acts too numerous to be mentioned. They wear the 
loose costume of their native land, well known from the pictures on tea-chests, and other 
familiar representations. Some among them have discarded the long pigtail and hat of enor- 
mous size, and adopted the costume and, to a certain extent, the manners of Europeans. A 
few among them can talk what is called in China " Pigeon English" —i.e., a corruption for 
business English, 



54 



in intellect and other good qualities to the common herd, who would work them- 
selves up to positions of trust and responsibility in different walks of life, or be 
fitted to fill places, such as clerks, or head men on the Estates. I conclude, there 
would be nothing better than this to attach the rising generation _ of Coolies to 
the country, and make them a component part of the inhabitants of British Guyana, 

(7.) In regard to the Chinese immigrants, some few modifications to the foregoing 
suggestions would be necessary. I fear however that from the known peculiarities of 
this race we could never hope to make the Chinese permanent residents amongst us. A 
Chinaman's first thought, as already stated in a note above, after himself, is his coun- 
try ; in his breast there is an unconquerable and irradicable love for the soil of his father- 
land, which nothing can overcome. * To such an extent has this been shewn in California, 
where multitudes of this people have emigrated, attracted by the gold diggings— that 
it is a common occurrence for a Chinaman who lias been successful there, to make 
ample preparation and provision in case of his death, to have his corpse conveyed 
over the sea to be buried in his own native land. A common article of export from 
San Francisco in ships and steamers leaving that port for China being <J Chinese corpses:' 
A Chinaman, however, is a most desirable labourer, and I think is acknowledged in many 
respects to be superior to the Coolie, and therefore it would be a great advantage, were 
it possible, to renew or revise China Immigration to the shores of British Guyana. But to 
induce them to emigrate ample provision must be made for their return to their country 
after their term of agreement has expired. The Chinese are likewise an educated people 
in comparison to the Coolie, that is, they are all sent to school when they are y< ung (in their 
own country) and you see veiw few exceptions of Chinamen who have not at least a slight 
reading knowledge of their own language. But they care as little for acquiring a foreign 
language, as they do for laying their bones in a foreign land. To provide the children 
then of Chinese immigrants with facilities for acquiring the English language alone, is 
almost useless, thev will not avail themselves of them. If a Chinese knows, what is 
called in China " Pigeon English" (a corruption for busines English) it is all that he 
cares for. They would highly appreciate the establishment of Chinese schools, where 
the Chinese language is taught, and would gladly avail themselves of the advantages 
offered, while thev would systematically keep away their children from the English 
schools * If the Chinese immigrants are be to attracted to our shores, an engagement 
on our part should be made in regard to their education, in China, and proper steps 
taken to procure qualified schoolmasters to accompany each shipload of immigrants. 
Were then the Chinese to feel and know that every provision would be made for their 
return to their own country, and that the education of their children would be provided 
for, thev might be induced to come to the Colony in large numbers. It would also check 
in 'a great measure that growing evil amongst them— opium smoking— which not only 
impoverishes the body and mind, destroying the constitution, but reduces to beggary 
the poor victims to its indulgence ; for then he would endeavour to save up his earnings 
in order to take back his hoard with him when he returns home, and his children being 
educated, he would feel that they would be under no disadvantage on their return to 
their own land on this score. 

(8.) The remarks I have elsewhere made in regard to the Coolies being allotted 
according to the district from which they have been drawn, and the appointment of 
head men. are equally applicable to the Chinese as to the Coolies. But it would be too 
much to expect that overseers should be required to study Chinese colloquial, as the 
time and attention necessary for this would be more than they could devote to it, though 
of course, it would be much to their advantage were they to do so. 

(9.) It may be asked— would the Coolie children attend the schools thus provided for 
them ? I would answer, not unless some slight compulsory means were used. It is a 
bad plan to offer them money or bribes for attending to that for which they ought to 
pay a fee. however small. The parents of the children make no objection to their 
offspring going to school, if thev have nothing else to do by which they may earn a little 
monev, but at the same time, they do not use their influence and authority to compel 
them* to go ; in fact they are very indifferent in the matter. The difiiculty often is, in 



* I mav state here that several Chinese coolie children attend the Wesleyan Day School 
at Trinity (Werk-en*Rust, Georgetown,) and are getting on well in their English lessons or 
studies, 



55 



getting the children together, and here some little compulsion is necessary in regard to 
them. Children in the Colony, as elsewhere, prefer play to work ; to get them together, 
there should be a children's driver, whose duty would be, every morning to go round to 
all the Coolie ranges and bring the children to the school, ascertaining which of them are 
detained at home from sickness or other necessary cause. (I knew of an Estate where this 
plan was carried out to some extent, and it answered well. At that school — which was 
strictly a Coolie school, where the Vernacular was taught, the number on the register 
was 60, and the average attendance 30, i.e., 50 per cent. I believe the average attend, 
ance would have been greater if the plan here proposed had been carried out to its full 
extent. The children were instructed for about two hours daily, and were making good 
progress. The school opened at 7 and closed at 9, so as to afford an opportunity for 
those of the children who went to work, to do so.) It would be better, if children were 
allowed their full day's earnings, although they commenced work two hours later in the 
mornings.^ The loss would not be very great to the estate, seeing the advantages which 
would ultimately result from their being instructed. Some compulsion might also be 
brought to bear on the parents in order to induce them to take an interest in the instruc- 
tion of their children : if for instance a small weekly fine were imposed upon such 
parents as do not send their children to school, and these fines appropriated to the 
purchase annually of articles of clothing, &c, to be given to such children as regularly 
attend, _ it might have a most beneficial effect. Of course it would be necessary under 
these circumstances that every estate should provide suitable school accommodation, 
which is now more or less done. It is absolutely necessary, however, that the 
Managers, Proprietors, and Attorneys, — in one word the Planters — should not only 
countenance the establishment of schools for immigrant children on the different 
estates, but give their utmost support to secure any amount of success in this 
direction. Unless this could be done, it would be impossible, vain to expect good 
results. 

[Superior English education in India has enabled several persons, both of European 
descent and natives, to fill with credit honourable positions in the Civil Service and in 
other departments. Would it be considered utopian or rash on my part to entertain 
a similar hope so far as the Colony and its rising Creole Indians and others are con- 
cerned. But my earnest desire is that the children of Indian Coolies and others of 
the Colony who are taught in our Day Schools should, from the very first day of their 
entrance into school to the time they leave it, be taught to regard manual labour as 
something honourable to be pursued and not degrading, not as something beneath 
their notice or consideration and hence to be despised. There are many in British 
Guyana and elsewhere who, because they have had some little training in some inferior 
English school, are waiting to obtain some clerk's situation which they fancy is more 
honourable and respectable than trade, &c. They would rather endure the most abject 
poverty than work for an honest livelihood. I sincerely hope that such a calamity will 
never befall the rising generation of the adult Indian and Creole (black, &c.) Coolies.] 

(10.) I have thrown out the foregoing hints and made my observations on them, with- 
out for a moment thinking that they, and they alone, are the only right and perfect mode 
of dealing with a subject which has occupied much attention in the colony, and on which 
there are diversities of opinions. If what I have said be instrumental in accomplishing 
goocl^ and establishing a more desirable state of tilings in the colony in regard to the 
Immigrants, my object will have been accomplished ; but I feel my subject would be 
scarcely complete were I not to glance at the social, moral and spiritual effects which 
would be produced by the adoption of some measures as those above proposed. 

(a.) As to the social effects I would remark — that the marriage laws being amended 
and enforced, would have a most happy effect upon individuals, families, and the bulk 
of Immigrants generally. To reform and improve a debased people we must commence 
to work on the individual. The relations of husband to wife, and parent to child, are 
sacred relations, and where rightly appreciated tend to engender the cultivation of finer 
feelings, resulting in self-respect, which will surely develop itself in a higher degree of 
harmony and order in the whole mass of the people. No nation can hold together where 
these first principles are slighted or wanting. What has kept China together in one 
consolidated mass, but the principle of filial piety which is so strong a characteristic of 
that nation ? It has been the mortar which has cemented together her institutions, 
defective and antiquated as they are, and makes her people strong in their weakness. 



50 



It isthis which binds husband to wife, child to parent, subject to Sovereign, and which 
has ingrained into their stereotyped nature that attachment to the soil of their father, 
land, which with all their intercourse with foreign nations, both in their own country 
and in their temporary migrations to other lands — as to Australia and California— has 
not so much as been shaken, but is still as deep-rooted as ever. Were then the domestic 
relationship of the Coolies in the Colony secured on some firm and sound basis, it would 
tend much to raise our immigrants in their social position, and we should have a foun- 
dation upon which to work to secure their political attachment to our soil and 
institutions. 

(b.) As to the moral advantages of the proposed scheme, a diffusion of education 
amongst the Coolies would undoubtedly raise the moral status of this peo}3le. Ignorant 
they are, and therefore abased in morals, and steeped in prejudice, which, only a sound 
system of education will correct and remove. Little can be hoped to be done with the 
adult Coolie, but there is the rising generation, which, if not reclaimed and trained to 
something better, will certainly deteriorate in every principle of morality, imbibing 
not only the debased morals and prejudices of parents, but following the special vices 
of the black and coloured, and I may say also, of the white population of the colony. 
Education will fill a vacuum created by a more extended knowledge of men and things, 
from intercourse with others besides their own people, and be the hand-maid to the 
establishment of a purer system of morals, a more intelligent and tractable people to 
govern, and I may say also, a more faithful and competent set of labourers. 

(c.j And, lastly, as to the spiritual effect of the system. What a wide sphere does 
this open for the spiritual benefit of these heathen who are thrown amoH° , st us — a 
Christian nation ; — a people dissevered from their land of idols and from time-honoured 
institutions and superstitions, taken kindly by the hand by a paternal government, and 
led gently hnt gradually and steadily forward in life's progress and prosperity — their 
moral condition improved under salutary laws ; their social condition raised by judicious 
and timely means ; their intellectual improvement encouraged and aided by example 
and precept. This is a field to work upon ! The cravings of their inward life will then 
have been awakened ; the worship of senseless idols seen to be insensate folly ; their 
minds cultivated and prepared to receive the sublime and soul-elevating principles of 
Christianity; the people will be prepared to appreciate, if not to embrace the glorious 
truths of the gospel, and be made a contented, happy, thriving people, attached to our 
laws, our institutions, and the country of their renovation. 

PART II. 

(1.) I may further add that whatever might be said or written from time to 
time by different writers against the costly Indian Immigration and its con- 
tinuance, India seems to be the only Empire or Country to which every 
other distant land or Colony looks up for labourers. I am well aware that 
some benevolent persons in certain quarters, have regarded Coolie immigration 
to the Colony of British Guyana and other West Indian Islands with some 
jealousy, fearing, and not unnaturally, that it might have degenerated into a sort of 
slave-trade. Happily, however, the whole business of immigration being under rigid 
management of the British Government, from the first engagement of the natives by 
the immigration agent and their subsequent engagement by planters in the Colony, 
down to their final restoration to their homes in India, the former dark scenes of cruelty 
and kidnapping connected with procuring labourers are wholly past, and the benevolent 
persons connected with the Anti-Slavery Society in England and elsewhere, to whom 
humanity owes much, need not now fear a repetition of those dark scenes. Not only 
Natal, Mauritius, Trinidad, Jamaica, British Guyana, &c, but very recently the Fijian 
Government also has made arrangements with that of India for permission to import a 
large supply of Indian Coolies, and a considerable number from the Presidencies of 
Bengal and Madras have already reached the Isles. There must be some unavoidable 
causes or reasons for such steps to be taken or adopted by the owners of plantations in 
different parts of the world to import labourers— though at a costly price— from India. 

(2.)^ Large numbers of Coolies annually find their way to British Guyana to work on 
the different Sugar plantations, and the owners of the estates and planters are almost 
entirely dependent upon them. Whilst this is the case, I cannot hide the fact that 



57 



there is a Divine Merciful Providence at work at the same time. The whole of India 
where millions upon millions crowd the broad provinces, including the spicy groves of 
Ceylon, is thrown open to the Missionaries of the Cross, and the Gospel may be, and is 
being preached in freedom and peace, under the protection of the British Government; 
but thousands of those who leave their native land for Britisli Guyana and other West 
India Islands never had an opportunity to see the Missionaries or hear their voice there. 
Their coining to the West, to the land of Bibles, Sabbaths, and Christian ministry, 
from every part of India, is a sure and certain sign that God intends their conversion. 
I further regard the continuance of Coolie immigration as a step in the right direction 
to break down caste feeling, and to further their civilization. The system of immigra- 
tion as now carried on, is intended without doubt, to undermine in the adults, and still 
more in their children, the petty superstitions of old tribal distinctions, and to teach 
thera the truth contained in the following lines of Burns : — 

" For a' that, and a' that, 
Its' comin' yet, for a' that, 
That man to man, the world o'er, 
Shall brothers be, for a' that" : 

Or the truth contained in the following stanza of Siva-Vdkkiam : — 

" What, O wretch, is caste ? Is not water an accumulation of fluid particles ? 
Are not the five elements one, and the five senses one ? 

Are not the several ornaments for the neck, the breast, and the feet, equally gold ? 
What then is the peculiar quality supposed to result from difference in caste ? 
There is no caste at all : all are equal in God's sight." 

(3.) In many respects the Coolies are better off in British Guyana than they are or 
would be in India ; in particular, after their indenture is up, they are far more free and 
independent. Several who had gone to India and returned to British Guyana after a year 
or two with some friends, have told me that no person coming to Demerara young could 
like India rin his return. They feel that the customs of India make them slaves, 
whereas in Demerara, if industrious, no matter to what caste or tribe they belong, they 
can get on well enough, and be their own masters without fear of opposition, and that 
they are not only cared for in the Colony, but to some extent petted by their employers. 
A Coolie who returned to India with his children born in the Colony, writing to a 
friend in Georgetown not very long ago stated in his letter : " At present from want of 
rain in these parts (Southern India) the price of grain has gone up very high indeed, and 
I find it hard to make a living here (India). Besides this country does not agree with 
my children. We intend, therefore, returning to Demerara." Another one wrote : 
" I am sorry I ever made up my mind to leave Demerara for my native land. India 
seems strange to me and to my family. I like Demerara very much, and as soon as I 
have spent a few months among my relations here, I shall start away to Calcutta and 
return to the Colony. Tell my friends plenty of salaams." I can give other similar 
quotations but that is unnecessary. The following particulars, however, may not be 
uninteresting to the distant reader : From J anuary, 1835, to June 30, 1880, the number 
of East Indian Coolies introduced in the Colony has been 123,315, and the number of 
free Coolies who have returned to India from 1854 to October 12, 1881, has been some- 
thing like 14,040, and the amount of earnings or savings deposited by them for trans- 
mission to India has been $1,346,115 49c. or £280,440 14s. 6|d. This may be con- 
sidered by some a very large amount to be carried away from the Colony. The figures 
look large, enormous in print ; but when analyzed, we find that each person carried 
away about £19 19s. 5fd., or about $95 87^c. Surely it cannot be considered a very 
large sum for each person, especially when these return Coolies had been in the Colony 
some ten, fifteen, and twenty years and upwards. If the Coolies were treated like 
slaves, instead of like children and rational beings, such large numbers would never have 
returned to India with such a large sum of money, and several of them would not have 
come back to British Guyana, in some instances paying their own passage. 

(4.) It is not at all likely that the Coolies as a body will forego their claims to a 
return passage to India. The love of home, country, and kindred, is such that they 
naturally feel a desire to return to their native land. All the free Coolies — however 
long they might have been in the Colony — are in the expectation of returning home to 
their country. Instead of fretting about their leaving the Colony, and carrying away 



58 



large sums of money and precious jewels or ornaments with them, our pride ought to 
be in the number we induce to remain in the country. Even if only ten families out 
of the many who leave the shores of British Guyana could be induced to settle in 
suitable localities, the Colony would by that means become richer in population and 
power of production, and however slow the progress, we would from year to year, 
and by little and little add to our small number of peasant proprietors. In Trinidad, 
we see the Coolies gladly avail themselves of the opportunities afforded them, and have 
purchased and paid for some thousands of acres of village allotments. The free Coolies, 
principally the Madrassees who are, it is said, stronger and healthier than the Calcutta 
Coolies * from Guadeloupe and Martinique go over to Trinidad and purchase lands. &e. 3 
and settle down. The Trinidad Government, some years ago, gave to each free Coolie 
who gave up his claims to a return passage to India ten acres of land as free grant, 
which was afterwards reduced to five acres, and what quantity is now given I cannot 
say. I am glad to notice that the British Guyana Government has at last seen the 
necessity of adopting the suggestions which had from time to time been made in the 
local newspapers by myself and others of my fellow colonists. I am only sorry 
to find that the proposed Coolie settlement at Huis £ Bier en is yet paved with 
many difficulties. The abandoned plantations Fairfield and Hibemia, in Essequebo, 
and others as Broke Pot, &c, on the East Coast (Demerara), and some also perhaps 
in Berbice County, possess the necessary qualities and conditions for Coolie settle- 
ments. They possess splendid grazing pasture lands, &c., just what the Coolies 
would like, and these several abandoned estates or canefields might perhaps be 
purchased from their proprietors for a reasonable price and handed over to free 
Coolies in lieu of a return passage to India. The Huis FDieren alone is insufficient 
and inadequate as regards space, &e. s to the number of immigrants who are now, 
and who may. through fluxion of time, be entitled to freehold lots of land. I take the 
liberty of extracting the following portion from a letter which appeared in the columns 
of the Royal Gazette, dated Sept 24, 1881. in connection with this very subject 

" To close observers of this very important measure of the Government it must be 
apparent how tardy the Coolies have beeu to commute the onlv re-assuring point in their 
colonial service-contract for the prospects held out to them under the present svste-n of 
h jsbandry : and fairly speaking ; if the advantages of a return to the land of the'ir birth, 
where their hard-earned savings will be worth just double the amount, to sav nothing of the 
prestige which foreign experience and comparative opulence will give them among their 
countrymen, be weighed against those to be derived by accepting the Government offers, 
obscured as they appear to the minds of a suspicious and vacillating, but not unintelligent 
people, it can hardly remain a matter of surprise that they have been reluctant to make 
British Guyana the land of their adoption. 

£: To digress no further, I shall observe in the first place that such a site for their dwellings 
should be chosen as shall be found to be higher than the surrounding fields, such as sand reefs, 
and where there are no such natural elevations, a spot mav be easilv drained and raised, and 
facilities made for exporting produce and admitting supplies of provisions bv road or trench, 
and within quick reach of medical aid. Next to these and other sanitary considerations, the 
supply of fresh water and its storage for drinking and irrigation purposes should command 
attention : and en passant I may say that the Government has been fortunate in acquiring a 
property in the locality of an abundant supply of fresh water. With such slender means as 
most of these rice planters will start their colonial career, an ample supply for times of 
drought must be^ secured, unless we would see them ruined and the scheme a failure ; and as a 
further result, find them degenerating into paupers, and increasing the strain of the heavily 
burdened taxpayers. 

" The next want would be firewood, and of this there should be an ample supply. How 
much this article is valued by the coolies may be estimated from their known provident 
habit when on Sugar Estates, of storing up large quantities in and about their dwellings. 

" Again, most people who have dealt with coolies know their natural devotion to the cow, 
and its possession forms the limits of their ambition. This being so, a good pasture should 
be either on or very near the settlement, and in the former case should be so fenced as to pre- 
vent damages being suffered by any individual settler, the expense of such enclosure to be 
defrayed by a small per caput tax on the cattle grazing therein. 

" Now, with regard to the system of agriculture so far as it affects the cultivation which it 
is supposed will almost exclusively be carried on by the settlers, most of our readers will 
agree with me that it is not only tedious, but costly and ruinously wasteful. Let the Govern- 
ment import a number of ploughs for animal power, the uses and advantages of which the 



* The same remarks are made about the Madras Coolies in Natal, Mauritius, &c. British 
Guyana is the only Colony where they are depreciated, and bear a bad name. 



59 



settlers are for the most part well acquainted with, and sell them at cost. Add to this one or 
two complete sets of rice machinery for animal as well as for hand power, and the coo'ies wi ? ll 

tXm'tc b°: hTi h T emSe VeS ? thG Pr?l\ their OXen wil1 h ™g thSnstead o ^sacrificing 
them to butchers, and I venture to say that they will hail the improvements and the -ain to 
be derived therefrom with delight, and the Government will have P added ?uch an in^ducement 
to the bargain as shall secure an unqualified success to the measure.'' inducement 

(5.) There haye been 86 applications already for freehold lots of land, and the sooner 
the application is entertained and their request granted the better, or the Coolies who 

i^r y %T P !7 US ' & h wi JJ ? nd l \ ^cessary P erha P s to alter ^ minds in this 
respect and look forward for their exodus hence to India. I do not think myself that 
two acres of land for cultivation and one quarter acre village lot for every adult male 
immigrant, and two acres of land for cultivation for children between the afefof twdve 
and fifteen years, but no village lot and one acre for children under twelve years of age, 
a sufficient compensation for the Coolies to forego their claims to a free passage j but as 
the applicants haye not made any unreasonable or exorbitant demand than the quantity 
here specified I shall say nothing ; but let the quantity asked for by all means be given 
to them without further de ay, or difficulty. This will, I am positive, encourage many 
hundreds to settle m other localities as well where abundance of water may be found and 
where they could find pasturage for their cattle. Mr. Herbert Barclay, Special Maris', 
trate, m his report to the Lieutenant-Governor of a special trip made up the Demerary 
Kiyer, for the purpose of taking a census of the population, speaking of a Coolie 
settlement which he visited, observes We started from the Oracoeja at noon 
passing several settlements of Chinese and Coolies, and came to the Coosoraboo 
Creek, in which are two grants it being private property. Including the Chinese 
and Coolies just mentioned, about ninety people live here. About 2, p.m., a pouring 
ram came down, and we landed at Loo, a Coolie settlement, of which one Lookloll 
is the head. He grazes some fifty head of cattle, cuts timber, has rice fields and 
provision grounds, and employs many of the Coolies living in the neighbourhood. I 
also noticed a carpenter and several blacks employed about his place. Some sixty Coolies 
have settled here. -(Extracted from the "Colonist" of October 7, 1881) Even if 
the immigrant did not take to the sugar estates after obtaining his allowance of land, 
yet he would be a great gam to the Colony, not only as a farmer of cattle, of rice, and 
ol other articles of_ food, but also in imparting to the negro villager many of the 
elements of an ancient civilization; he would teach him industry and frugality, 
and love and care for his offspring, and kindness to his ox and his ass-virtues in which 
the > best friend of the negro must admit he is sadly deficient. If in other places the 
Indian immigrant is willing to avail himself of the advantages offered him by the 
Executive, there is no reason why he should decline them here. British Guyana 
is not less fertile her land less rich, her producing powers smaller, than those of 
her neighbours A plot of land in the Colony will return quite as much for the 
labour expended upon it as in any other place to which Coolies emigrate And 
as no country can be considered prosperous that depends for its prosperity upon 
a now of foreign labour which may be stopped at any time on account of tlie large 
demands made upon her labour market by other Colonies requiring assistance, it 
would be money well spent to try to stop at least one-tenth part of the immigrants 
who come to the Colony each year, and if we succeed, we should have in a com- 
paratively short time the basis of a population which would render the future 
development of British Guyana certain and sure. 

(6.) Nearly all the time of the Coolies' residence on the Estate or Plantation in 
tlie Colony is spent m growing cane and manufacturing sugar, molasses and rum. 
lne production ol sugar almost exclusively engages the attention of the people of every 
class. I clo not believe that Providence intended that British Guyana should always 
remain a sugar growing Colony only. Some years ago I threw out some hints 
m the local Papers, and a rice growing Company was formed in the City of George- 
town, but because a few of the leading Merchants and Planters were opposed to the 
scheme, it died a sudden death after nine days' wonder or talk. Valuable as su°*ar is 
it is worse than impolitic to hang all our fortunes on one staple; and this gram only 
requires to be fairly started, to supplement adequately our saccharine friend Creole 
rice is the finest article of food in the world. "When first introduced into the London 
market it at once topped Carolina, then at the head of the list, and if my reader is any 
way sceptical as to its quality let him try it ; and if he return to the insipid produce of 
India, I pity his taste. The Colony is flat, rich, easily flooded, water is abundant, and 



60 



the seasons admirably adapted for its culture. The land can be prepared by fire aud 
plough. The seed once sown requires little else than attention and management as 
regards the application of water. The crop can be cheaply reaped, and prepared for 
the market by machinery. Nearly half the population of the world lives on rice. Cattle, 
horses, stock of all sorts thrive on paddy. Poultry fatten on the broken grain and 
pigs will not refuse it, although damaged. Both Coolies and Chinese thoroughly 
understand the culture of rice, and on some of the Estates in Essequebo, Berbice, and 
Demerara. are trying their hand at it with success. But why can't it become general ? 
Abolish the present land regulations which would be ludicrous if they were not mis- 
chievous. Let the Legislature offer a bounty of 830, or $40 for the first thousand bags 
produced : and in a Colony so entirely suited for rice growing there would be esta- 
blished a cultivation which would create so thorough a change that British Guyana 
from being one of the dearest would become one of the cheapest Colonies as regards 
food, thus "affording more permanent inducements to the Indian Coolies than any bounty 
which could be offered. At the meeting of the '" Court of Policy" held on Sept. 21, 
1881, the Honourable "William Kussell observed : He had taken very great interest in 
this question of locating coolies upon some eligible site. It had been so much talked 
about that now as they had an opportunity of dealing with the question they ought to 
give it due consideration. There were many points in Mr. King's report that were new 
to him. He thought that the settlers ought to be taxed to maintain their roads and 
dams. In India the Zaniindar of the village simply gave liis orders and everything was 
done, but it would not be so in the Colony and the Zaniindar* would not be such a 
despot. He did not see why there should not be a tax for sanitary purposes, drainage 
and dam-making, without ent ailing any after burden upon the Colony. He quite agreed 
with the Government Secretary that it was a mistake to pamper people and do too much 
for them, and that they should be allowed to feel the weight of their own responsibility 
as land owners and to conform to the usages of free colonists. The people complained 
that the land behind the present back dam was not empoldered. That, he certainly 
considered, ought to be the work of the Government, if the land was found to be of 
sufficient quality and quantity, and the cost would not be very heavy. In connection 
with the back empolder the question of irrigation ought to be considered. In the East 
Indies the successful growth of rice depended almost entirely on irrigation, for which 
large sums had been expended, and it was astonishing how the land could stand the 
taxation that was in consequence imposed on it. He trusted the time was not far 
distant when a lock would be put in the Ituribisce Creek to secure a supply of water 
for the residents of Bros t'Dieren and the neighbouring settlements. A lock might be 
put in for about $3,000 at the sand downs." He had been over the Land himself and 
noticed that in some places had there been a supply of water the people might have 
grown two extra crops a year. He believed there was a great future for Euis t'Dieren, 
and that when the Coolies were located there they would be happy and prosperous. — 

The Government Secretary and the Lieutenant Governor agreed 

with Mr. Russell. It was not a question of the construction of the Ordinance, but a 
question of practical policy, and he believed that to give land to the Creole Coolies 
above fifteen years of age would be quite as advantageous as to give it to the other 
Coolies that had come from India, because it was most desirable to settle that popula- 
tion. It was a curious question what position the creole Coolies would occupy in the 
Colony in 30 or 40 years to come. They were fast in forgetting their own language ; 
they spoke better English than their parents, and by and by they would speak no 
language but English. The consequence would be that they would become colonists, 
and it would be wise policy on the part of the Government to induce them to settle in 
the Colony. 



* The Zamiudar YiEASWAsrr. alias John Johnson, a name I gave him many years aso when 
he used to attend my Coolie School in Lacy Town. His first lessons in English and his native 
language were received from me. I am glad to find that he has raised himself to his present 
position as Zamindar bv dilisence, perseverance, and close application. His father, Eannii' 
appan, was baptized under the name of William Boyce at Anns Grove, Wesleyan Chapel, 
East Coast, on Dec. 22. 1867. He led a consistent life, and was honest and true. The British 
Guiana Zamindar should not only superintend the Coolie Settlement, but be able to keep a 
school and teach the children and adults, especially as the Coolie settlers have expressed a 
desire that the Government should establish a school "in the proposed Tillage Settlement. The 
Government should also appoint some trustworthy person of influence to superintend both 
the Zamindar and the settlers. This is so done in India. 



61 



AN APPEAL TO PLANTERS AND EMPLOYERS OF COOLIE SERVANTS. 

(1.) In the extensive Colony of British Guyana we have upwards of 40,000 Coolie im- 
migrants labouring on the diif erent sugar estates. When we look at them, we are led to 
enquire, " Whence came they ? What is their social connexion with the Christian com- 
munity of the Colony ? Of what use are they to us ? For what object has God permitted 
these strangers to leave their liome so readily, and come all that distance across the mighty 
ocean to British Guyana ? And how we as a church and people should communicate 
to them those blessings of religious instructions we enjoy, and which they stand 
in need of ? These questions may be easily asked, but not easily answered. Thev 
are come, as we all know, from a country which is wholly and solely given to the 
worship of idols of wood and stone. They have been hitherto kept in total ignorance 
and darkness by their superiors — the proud and arrogant Pharisaic Brahmans, on 
the great subject of salvation purchased for their immortal, precious souls, by one 
who is mighty to save, even Jesus Christ the Eternal Son of God. They have not 
been taught in their country, — which is pre-eminently called " The land of temples 
and of strange Gods,"— to worship the only living and true God. They are 
come from a country which, in the world's history, is one of the dark inaces of 
the earth, full of the habitations of cruelty. They are all the workmanship of 
One only Almighty Being— they are bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, 
and they equally share our physical, intellectual, and spiritual nature, and each 
one of them possesses an immortal soul, which was at first created in the image 
and likeness of God, but now that image erased, and yet a soul, which God our 
heavenly Parent loves, for which Christ Jesus died, and unto which everlasting- 
happiness or eternal misery shall be meted on the day of retribution. These form 
our constant and inseparable associates in a certain sense. Where we dwell they 
dwell ; where we die and are buried, they too die and are buried : and more 
than all, our God is their God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ is their Saviour. 
We cannot do without them ; and we can't afford to lose them. Necessity com- 
pels us to introduce them in our midst. Mostly all that we enjoy as returns of 
our soil comes from their patient and untiring labours. As we look to them for our 
temporal prosperity and welfare, even so they look up to us for their spiritual and 
eternal prosperity and welfare — and shall we deny this to them ? God forbid ! 

(2.) In their own country, as has been said before, they have been kept down, and 
the knowledge of the truth had been hidden from them, by the wholesale soul- 
destroying Brahmans. They had never heard, nor had been taught to know that 
there is a holy God, who is a Spirit ; that they are sinners in his sight ; accountable 
creatures ; in danger of hell ; that Jesus Christ had died to save them ; that unless 
they are born again they cannot see the Kingdom of God. And God evidently has in 
his in6nite wisdom and providence permitted these Hindoos to sojourn in British 
Guyana, the land of Bibles, Sabbaths, and a Christian Ministry, in order that during 
their exile they may become acquainted with the truth of the Holy Gospel, by daily 
coming into contact with those who love and fear God, and carry back the same truth, 
and preach them to their benighted countrymen, like the Primitive Christians. At this 
present time, the languishing cry of " No man careth for my soul," seems to come 
ringing into our ears, in every direction : — 



" Hark ! what mean those lamentations, 

Rolling through the distant sky? 
'Tis the cry of heathen nations, 

' Come and help us, or we die.' " 
" Hark the heathens' sad complaining, 

Christians hear their dying cry : 
And the love of Christ constraining, 

Join to help them ere they die." 
"Alas ! shall we, who from our earliest youth, 

Have learn'd the lessons of eternal truth, 
Who, whilst we live, and when we come to die, 



Can on a Saviour's mercy safe rely ; 
Shall we, a base example, dare to show 

To those thus deeply sunk in vice or woe, 
Excuses furnish to their untaught mind 

For living on, to true religion blind ? 
Oh no ! if we have learned to hope and pray, 

Point we to them the right, the better way ; 
And by our works of faith, make plain the 
road 

That leads the erring soul, thro' Christ to 

God." 



62 



Here is a loud call for help— immediate help. The heathen are literally perishing at 
our very doors. Before the heathen nations were introduced here, or were permitted to 
visit our shores, great love and earnestness for their instruction and conversion in their 
own land, were manifested by thousands of our fellow-Christians. And what good do 
they now to these people whom they never anticipated or expected to see in their midst ? 
What help do they render unto them ? What active part do they take, to bring them 
to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus ? Irrespective of the Missionaries of the 
Episcopal Church of England, Wesleyan Church, and Free Presbyterian Church, labour, 
ing among the Coolies for their spiritual benefit, what do the "different Planters, and 
other Masters who have them under their immediate charge, do for them in a spiritual 
point of view ? How many of the Coolies are suffered to perish in heathen ignorance 
around us, with scarcely an effort made to convince thein of their danger, and to lead 
them to the only fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness ? As this appeal is 
earnestly and affectionately addressed to Christian masters, and others who love the 
Lord Jesus in sincerity and in truth, I hope they will bear with me in love. 

(3.) _ I believe that it is the paramount duty of all Christians to maintain family religion 
in their houses, to train up not only their children in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord, but, like Abraham, to command their households after them to keep the way of 
the Lord. Every one who takes the Bible for the rule of his faith and practice, will 
readily admit this. But is it not greatly to be feared and lamented, that many even of 
those who have reared in their families altars to the name of the Lord, and are seriously 
seeking for themselves and their children " the Kingdom of God and his righteousness," 
either altogether overlook, or are very negligent in their duty towards, their servants ? 
If the instruction for our servants — whether domestic, estate or field labourers — in 
righteousness is a duty required of every one of us, how much more imperative is it in 
Christian British Guyana where there are so many thousand Pagan Indians or Coolies. 
Here, our poor Coolies are professed idolaters, brought up in utter ignorance of the truth, 
and sunk in the darkest and grossest superstition. Here no man careth for their souls 
— they are perishing for lack of knowledge — unless we give it them, they may never 
enjoy the opportunity of reading those Scriptures, which are able to make them wise 
unto salvation, or of hearing of that Saviour, who came to seek and to save perishing 
and sinful heathen souls. O, let us seriously consider how sad our case will be, if the 
blood of the souls of our heathen servants on the different estates and other places shall 
be laid at the door of the Christian Planters or Managers and others for their negligence 
and carelesness ! Let the conviction of our awful responsibility — as mast-rs awaken us 
to prayerful and deligent exertion. 

(4.) Let us consider the value of the souls of our heathen Coolies. The whole world, 
yea, a thousand worlds, cannot compensate the loss even of one soul. The joy which is 
in heaven at their conversion— the price— even the blood of an incarnate God, paid for 
their redemption— declare the value, the unspeakable value, of an immortal soul. And 
shall we make no effort for their salvation ? — We know that they are ignorant, guilty, 
condemned sinners. We know that if they die— unwashed by the precious blood of 
Christ, and unrenewed by the Holy Spirit— they must perish— perish everlastingly. 
And shall we — trusting that our own souls are safe — feel unconcerned and indifferent 
about theirs P Shall we eat and drink and take our ease, while these, who cultivate 
our lands, wait at our table, and minister to our comforts, are rushing heedless, 
ignorant, and unawakened into hell ! Alas, alas, what cold unfeeling, stony hearts are 
ours ! Had God dealt with us, as we deal With others, we had still been unpitied, 
unredeemed. 

(5.) Some of my readers perhaps may feel disposed to say — We admit that it is our 
bounden duty to instruct our Coolie servants in the knowledge of God, and it is our 
sincere and anxious desire to perform it ; but from our ignorance of their language, we 
feel quite incapable of instructing our servants. This may be quite true. But are 
there no Coolies in the country who can speak the English tongue pretty well ? How 
do the employers — the masters on the different estates — converse with their Indian 
labourers, when they want to get their work done P Do they not converse with them 
very frequently in English ? Almost all the Coolies in the Colony have a smattering of 
English. From several overseers I have learnt that the Coolies having an intense desire 
to acquire a knowledge of the English, they have gone to them and asked questions 
about the Christians' God. The open air preaching services in town and country are 



63 



*lso laro-elv attended by the Coolies for the same reason. Whilst teaching the English, 
mfans of communicating religious instructions to these people may be employed. These 



means are : — 



(11 Prayer. Without this all other means may prove utterly «™™ling- Though 
the empmyers cannot speak to their servants of God. they can 

them of sin, and lead them to seek salvation through the Wood ot the atonement. 

(2.) A second means of usefulness is presented by fc*"^^; 
Though unable to speak to them i. their own ^^J^J^^^^^Jt 
they Ly put into their hands the hvelj ^ oracles of ^^^S^de them to 

willing Christian can endeavour to read the scriptures himsell to ttie pooi g 
heathen. The Common Prayer Book also is thus transcribed. 

(3.) A third means of usefulness is imparting religious instruction, viva voce, to the 
heathen servants. 

soon become Christians." Few persons admire the Christian 

of India. Only here and there it is true they are e^ed to emwa . g 
faith : but then- respect for it when shewn in %f^£™^t^* Christian 
like that of King Agrrppa for Sf *t p aul ; ^ 

manner, will never alienate the heathen Indian 0°^*^^^ are done in an 
things arc done in the name of Christianity, or when Christian i m , and 

unchristian way, that mischief and danger are ^^^^^^^^Ibbb. 
conversation, we should recommend to the hea ^ jr^nd us ther ^f 0 ^ J wn but 
But do those who profess to love Christ and Ins cause^ 
immortal souls, do their duty ? It is deeply to be jetted that ^ 
selves-though unhappily in but, ^ whicbthey 

the tenets of their f aith-actmlly take m the ^atnemsi a carried b y black 

see practised around them. It is a common thing to see Razzias rep J ea tedly 
people .Christians ?) hired for that purpose W^$^^££^£\>ut also 
seen respectable persons not only countenance thes ^™ wickedness and 

give the immigrants large presents, ; and ^ ^W^^^ Attend on such 
heathenish abominations. This much is matter, a harm- 

occasions, give those who invite them the idea t^ 0 ^^*^^ truly may the 
less amusement, instead of a sin ^ * h « of Christians, 

words of the Prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel be appl ed to this c ^ ^ 

- Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the }\f^±T^ d \ G sball £ n0 w that 
signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at t em ; - And ye^ sua 
lam the Lord ; for ye have not walked m my ^^^^^t^ See also 
but have done after the manners of the ^^^^ f 0 Zt his face against 
Habak ii., 18, 19. It is the duty of every Chi stmn tneraore . io . norant , deluded 
these heathenish practices and ceremonies and teach the pool, i„nor , 
Coolies the way and worship of the living and true (rod. 

(6.) And now, in conclusion permit me ^S^S^ 
whether they are resolved, by the grace of G °^%*^ but their field or 

their power, for the eternal welfare of not only ™^ fl ; 10 ^ 1 ^; t ° their ea rs at the 



64 



roof. May they not tlrns address them ? - Many a year I was in your service. Ton 
well knew that I was a poor miserable heathen, but you never praved for me. Ton 
knew that I was ignorant of Christ, but you never instructed me. Ton saw me rush- 
ing down the road to hell, but you never warned me of my danger ,- you never attempted 
to save me. Ton had in your hands the bread of life — the word of salvation— but you 
never gave it to my hungering and wretched soul. And now I perish— perish ever- 
lastingly. My blood be upon your head — of you let it be required.'* 

7. But I would hope better things of my readers. I trust they will henceforth 
resolve, prayerfully and in humble dependence upon the grace and blessing of God, to use 
every .opportunity and means of usefulness in their power. Then, when they stand 
before the judgment-seat they may be permitted to behold some of the objects of their 
prayers and exertions among the redeemed of the Lamb. Oh, what will be their joy to 
hear them praising God and saying, " Once we were poor wretched idolaters, but 
through the mercy of our God, we were brought by his kind providence under your 
roof! There I first heard the glorious gospel. There the Holy Spirit taught me that 
l^vras a poor guilty sinner, and led me to believe on him who died to save sinners. 
There 1 was turned from Pagan darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto 
God. There I was delivered from the bondage of the devil, justified and sanctified by 
grace ; and now, through the merits of the sinners" Saviour. I shall be a partaker of 
eternal glory." Then, too, shall our King and Redeemer say. " Well done, thou o- ood 
and laithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.'" ; - And they that be wis- 
shall shine as the brighness of the firmament: and they that turn many" to righteous- 
ness as the stars for ever.'* — Dan. xii., 3. 



65 



CONCLUSION, 

(I.) Speaking of the moral aud spiritual condition of the Aborigines, Mr. G. W. 
Bennett, the highly respected Author of British Guyana already referred to elsewhere, 
says :— "It is scarcely necessary to remark, that a subject so replete with interest as 
the present state of the original inhabitants of Guyana, deserves more attention than the 
philanthropic public of Great Britain has hitherto afforded it, The indifference with 
which they have been treated seems almost unaccountable, and I must ascribe it to 
ignorance, for it is hardly possible that the religious portion of Great Britain should be 
aware that a race of men exists, who have not only been dispossessed of their territory 
by Europeans, but have been wholly neglected, and are without provisions for their 
moral or civil advancement, although their lands are now occupied by British subjects 
who have never made them any compensation, and export to the mother country to the 
annual amount of three millions ; and import, in British manufactures, upwards of two 
millions sterling. 

The present history of these Aborigines appears to be the finale of a tragical drama, 
tor a whole race of men is wasting away under adverse circumstances. Heartless, 
however, is the assertion, unworthy of our enlightened age, that the indigenous race of 
the New World is incapable of elevation, and that no power, whether emanating from 
Christians, Princes, or Philosophers, can arrest its gloomy progress towards certain 
destruction. Such an unfeeling and impious idea could not have originated with any 
one who lived amongst them, or who had studied their character. I speak from 
experience when I assert, that the Indian is capable of progressive improve nient, and 
that the establishment of social order, European arts, and Christian morals anions 
them is possible. It is unreasonable to expect that men, accustomed to a rowino- and 
unfettered life, and acquainted with our artificial wants, should at once abandontheir 
wandering habits, and adopt a mode of living diametrically opposite to their lono- 
established customs, and who but too frequently, where they have been brought m 
contact with civilization, have not partaken of its blessings, but merely felt its curse." 

(2.)^ The Coolies and the Aborigines undoubtedly have a great claim upon us. How- 
ever little the Missionaries of this Society or that Society may have done for them they 
have done something ; and they ought not to shrink from a duty because it is difficult 
especially when it is of paramount obligation. Even if a Christian Missionary did not 
meet with much encouragement and success in his arduous labours, his duty still lies 
before him ; he must labour on at God's command, and never give up. ISTo man who 
feels himself called of God the Holy Ghost to be a Christian Minister or Missionary 
will ever think of resigning or giving up his office, unless lie has deceived himself or 
teels himself incapable of performing his duties, and enduring much hardship. The 
office of a Christian Missionary is a most solemn and responsible one. He has souls 
precious, immortal souls, committed to his charge ; and if he wilfully neglects his duties 
their blood shall be required at his hands. I say, if a Christian Missionary does not see 
much fruit, yet let him remember, that if he had been the means of saving only one 
heathen soul, it is a great work— a work well done. That one soul saved is worth all the 
monej and time spent upon it. 

(3.) At the present time, I must confess the Christian work among the Coolies seems 
somewhat discouraging. But when I recount the past success,— that fills my heart 
with gratitude and my lips with praise. " I thank God and take courage." I feel it is my 
duty not to confer with flesh and blood, that I might preach Christ among the heathen, 
but enter with redoubled energy into the spirit and execution of this sublime under- 
taking, resolving that, seeing " our labour is not in vain in the Lord," I will, in humble, 
dependence upon the Master we serve, be " steadfast, immovable, always abounding" in 
His Divine work. If success attends the labours of God's servants of other Churches, 
of whatever Christian Denomination, I praise God for it. I wish every Christian 
Missionary, labouring among the Pagan or Heathen Indians and Hindus in the 
Colony and elsewhere, God speed in the work. 



66 



^ (4.) I now conclude by observing that the Coolie Christians who annually leave the 
Colony for India will return with very altered views on all matters. Such returned 
emigrants will in time affect the mind of their countrymen, as no doubt the Chinese 
emigrants returning to China from Singapore, Batavia, Sydney, Melbourne, and San 
Francisco have been the authors to some extent of the unsettledness of the Chinese 
mind in many districts. We little know the nature and extent of the moral power 
which is thus scattered broadcast over India and China. I was very much impressed 
with the following passage in Mr. Macleod Wylie's " Bengal as a Field of Missions," 
and as it is quite applicable to the state of the Christian Work among the heathen 
immigrants in British Guyana. I reproduce it :— The progress of Missionary labour 
is slow but visible. A great deal is done toward the gradual undermining of the 
systems of false religion which prevail. Looking to the way in which Providence would 
ordinarily work such changes, I think we may expect a* gradual preparation for any 
great national change: and then a rapid development whenever the change has 
decidedly commenced. If we carefully examine history we shall find that generations 
passed away in the gradual accomplishment of objects, which our impatient expecta- 
tions wish to see crowded into brief space of our own lives. We must bear in patience 
and hope, and see^ labourer after labourer pass through the field, expectation after 
expectation disappointed ; and at length be content to pass ourselves from the stage in 
full faith and confidence that God in his own way and in his own time will bring about 
the great ends which his truth is pledged to accomplish. For us in the present day. the 
important practical consideration is that each should labour in his own part to help on 
the good work, and strive to bear his evidence to the truth by example and precept, if 
not by direct instruction.'' In British Guyana are presented opportunities for the 
propagation of the gospel which rarely occur in India : but they are all lost to the 
church, because of the lack of men. We want more Missionaries ! There is work 
enough ^for more than a dozen men. Unless we have a sufficient number of labourers 
in the vineyard, we cannot expect to reap much fruit. It is simply impossible for one 
man to be about everywhere. Even the occasional or periodical visits the Missionary 
may pay to the Coolies on the different estates, so distant from each other, may do little 
or no good. In the natural world ir is well known that a small piece of ground, 
thoroughly cultivated, will yield a much greater return than a large extent, where 
briars and thorns strive for the mastery. The same result seems to hold good in 
spiritual tilings. Missionary efforts slightly diffused over a large space have apparently 
effected little on the whole, though it is true that in some isolated cases good has been 
done. The late Rev. Paul P. Schaffter, Church of Enarland Missionary (whom I knew 
well), used to tell the Itinerating Missionaries in North Tinnevelly. India, that until they 
had a "house and a door," a Tamil phrase for a fixed habitation, no one would join 
them. There is great force in this. For a Hindoo to embrace Christianity is a trial 
of the severest kind.- Those who come over require all the moral support which can 
legitimately be given. The people have very little confidence in a Missionary who 
wanders about. A succession of visits paid by several Missionaries is also much inferior 
in value to repeated visits by the same Missionary. It is of very great importance for 
the people to get acquainted in some measure with a Missionary"": thus they will be led 
much more easily to place themselves under Christian instruction. This is a great 
point gained. The Gospel faithfully preached, " line upon line,'' niav, with God's 
blessing, be expected to produce the usual results. 



^ There are some people in the Colony who believe that it i; an easy, lisrht matter to con- 
vert the Coolie to Christianity, but they must k ow that "he, the Coolie, thinks that he 
would be drawing down the curse of Heaven upon himself bv abandoning his ancestral faith 
tor that of a foreign people. For him, brought up as he is in a grovelling religion, the pure 
and sublime doctrines of Christianity have no attraction: and he simplv looks 'upon the 
missionary as an agent sent by the English Government to effect hi* rehVious subjugation, 
from a worldly or interested motive. The Mussulman, on the other hand, will hardly con- 
descend to hear him. In his proud estimation, the Christian teacher can have nothing to 
otter to him worthy of his acceptance. He pretends that the revelation in the Gospel has 
been abrogated by the later revelation contained in the Koran, and is alwavs repeating the 
well-known formula of his belief, 'There is one God. and Mahomed is the Apostle of God.' " 
(Sevd. E. B Bhose.J I will not attempt for one single moment, to sav or think that the adult 

00 i ie population will not be converted to Christianity, but I do confess that I feel very little 
L>_ood can be done with the adult immigrants who come to the Colony. £i The immigrant is 
like the granite stone which requires great skill and much artistic labour, and plenty ot 
patience too, to be brought into a handsome block or figure." I entertain st oug hopes of the 
conversion of their children. By teaching the voung the parents can be reached. 



67 



(5.) Where there are three or four Missionaries of the same Church or Denomina- 
tion labouring together, the work becomes easier as they understand each other's trials 
and discouragements, &c, and can sympathize with each other ; but where a man is 
alone, and almost isolated, as far as his work is concerned, he must necessarily find it 
not only most discouraging and difficult and uphill, but almost feel a desire or dispo- 
sition to give up the work he so loves in despair as a useless attempt to convert the 
adult heathens. Such has been my experience for some years. There is no one to cheer 
him ; no one to understand the hardships he has to go through day by day ; and none to 
sympathize with him, simply because the other Missionaries or Ministers who in a 
certain sense are his co-labourers, or colleagues, are not engaged in the same kind of 
work among the heathens. Such a Missionary would do a great deal more good 
among the heathen immigrants if he could concentrate his efforts and confine himself 
to a certain sphere or place, by associating himself with his other brethren in their 
regular or general work, and be in charge of some one particular Church, by which 
means he could draw several heathen Coolies and induce them to become Christians. 




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